Great Wolf Lodge plans 204-bed employee housing building

Maria Francis, Pocono Record
·2 min read

Great Wolf Lodge has been granted conditional approval by Pocono Township for an employee housing land development project that could house over 200 employees.

The resort company has proposed constructing a 9,500-square-foot, three-story, 53-room, 204-bed employee housing building with a 10-space parking lot. The building would be located within the current resort property in Scotrun.

Pocono Township Manager Taylor Muñoz said the employee housing project has been in the planning process with the township for a while. He said the structure would be located adjacent to the waterpark facility and would be strictly for housing employees that work at Great Wolf.

According to Muñoz, Great Wolf is wrapping up outside agency approvals. "I believe they already covered PennDOT with the volumes coming in and out. They will need to continue working with the DEP (Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection) about sewage facilities planning and the township's public water and sewer. I don't expect or project any added traffic considering this is for individuals living and working on the premises, so there won't be as much traffic."

Pocono Township unanimously passed the resolution to grant this conditional approval during a board of commissioners meeting on Aug. 21.

As of Tuesday morning, Great Wolf Lodge had not provided comment on the project.

Villas at Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos were under construction on April 20, 2023.
Villas at Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos were under construction on April 20, 2023.

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This new employee housing plan comes on the heels of a multi-phase expansion and renovation project that has been underway since 2019.

Great Wolf Lodge is nearing the completion of a $125 million renovation that includes a 40,000-square-foot water park expansion with seven new slides, bringing the total to 118,000 square feet of indoor pools, slides and water play area.

While the waterpark portion of the expansion has been completed and debuted in August, there are also 30 villas and a guest tower nearing completion in the next few months.

The new Mountain Tower will feature 202 family-friendly guest suites and the Woodland Villas will feature 30 1,500-square-foot villas with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living area, a fully equipped kitchenette, and a private outdoor living space surrounded with nature views.

This rendering shows a Woodland Villa living room at Great Wolf Lodge.
This rendering shows a Woodland Villa living room at Great Wolf Lodge.

The grand total of rooms at Great Wolf Lodge Pocono Mountains will reach 632, making it the second-largest resort in the Great Wolf Lodge portfolio.

Earlier in the summer, Great Wolf Lodge debuted its new Grand Lobby and also opened its first full-service restaurant, Fireside. A renovated buffet-style restaurant once knows as "Loose Moose" is now called Timbers Tables.

This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: Pocono Twp. has approved Great Wolf employee housing expansion