Work Expected to Start this Week on Peekskill Hotel

The loan was approved and all of the planning documents have been submitted.

The only thing left for the Holiday Inn Express project at the corner of John Walsh Boulevard and Louisa Street is for it to be built.

“We’re working right now and we’re preparing and assigning projects,” said George Liaskos, said of his pet project. “Activity should start [today]. We plan to work everyday until we’re finished.”

The Holiday Inn, which will have a 70-plus rooms and an indoor pool, will be silver LEED certified hotel. A silver LEED certification is the second level of certification a project can achieve, ranking below the gold and platinum standards.

Estimates given for the project have ranged between $7 million to $9 million.

For Liaskos, a Garrison resident and the owner of the the sight of construction workers is welcome.

The project has been in the planning stages since 2008. Liaskos said he was delayed by a slumping economy and the inability to secure a loan for the project.

“We broke ground about a year ago and then we had to stop when the banks went belly up,” Liaskos said. “We were able to continue after we got a small bank in Rhode Island to take on the project.”

The city also furnished Liaskos a $500,000 gap loan.

Liaskos declined to give an updated estimate on project costs.

“It’s hard to give estimate on construction costs,” Liasko said. “You don’t really have a final number until you’re able to factor in construction management costs, all the permitting...then you can say what the final cost is. I’ll be able to say the cost when the final number comes in.”

Liaskos is hopeful the construction will be completed by late spring.