Developer seeks Central Islip hotel site

A developer that has built 24 Hilton and Marriott hotels in the past decade in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania wants to build its fourth hotel on Long Island, this time in Central Islip.

New Jersey-based Briad Development is expected to enter an agreement with the Town of Islip's Industrial Development Agency to buy a 3.46-acre parcel on the corner of Carleton Avenue and Courthouse Drive, next to the Long Island Ducks' home stadium, Bethpage Ballpark.

Steve Scharf, vice president of Briad, said the plan entails a four-story, 95,205-square-foot, 125-room hotel that would include a fitness center, conference rooms, a business center, a pool and parking.

The hotel would be "all-suite, extended-stay," said Scharf, with rooms larger than those in typical overnight or one-to-two night stay hotels, with separate rooms for sleeping and living and full kitchen amenities.

Briad is purchasing the land from Long Island Hotels, said Bill Mannix, Islip's economic development executive director. He added that the town twice before has had hotel developments come before it for the site -- only to see them fall through in a tough economy.

Islip's IDA is considering an inducement resolution that would offer Briad tax abatements for a period of years in exchange for the promise of 30 full-time jobs ranging from hotel management to cleaning staff.

"This project would not be built without the assistance of the IDA because taxes in Central Islip are too prohibitive for such a development," Mannix said.

The Islip town IDA is set to approve the first step toward the inducement resolution at Tuesday's town board meeting.

Briad has built three other hotels on Long Island, Scharf said -- the Residence Marriott in Hauppauge, a Hilton Garden Inn in Westbury, and most recently a Marriott Spring Hill Suites in Yaphank.