Plans revealed for former Ramada Inn along Ogdensburg waterfront
Feb. 26—OGDENSBURG — The owners of the former Ramada Inn on West River Street have revealed their plans for the property that includes a Wyndham hotel, boardwalk and a warehouse across the street at 17 Main St.
Released Sunday night on the At the Docks website at www.atthedocks.com, the plan at 119 West River St. calls for a new boardwalk along the Oswegatchie River, the acknowledgement of a franchise agreement being secured with Wyndham Hotels, artist renderings of what the project would look like and the need for Parcel B of 17 Main St. to build a warehouse to store its docks.
"Since the purchase of the dilapidated hotel and marina property on W. River Street, Ogdensburg, we've carefully been planning enhancements," stated the website, "This takes much planning and resources."
119 West River St. is owned by Chris and Mike Frary. According to newspaper archives, the former Ramada Inn was sold by Gilbert Jones to the family of Michael Frary for $350,000 in 2019. At the time, the 2.65-acre parcel had been assessed for $110,000 and included approximately 28,000 square feet in building space.
Jones had purchased the hotel and marina in 2011 from Mehmet Adiguzelli, owner of Shoreline Condominiums LLC, a Newton, New Jersey, development company. The hotel had been closed for a number of years prior to the purchase by Jones.
Plans are being developed to address the state of the dilapidated Ramada Inn.
"We all know Ogdensburg could use lodging inside the city and along the St. Lawrence River is an excellent location for this. The benefits of this project include job creation (full time, and year-round positions), increased tax revenue for the city, community revitalization, improving blighted and underutilized areas and increased neighboring property values. We've secured a franchise agreement with Wyndham Hotels. Construction planning holdbacks have been with environmental concerns, addressing whether we build new or use some of the existing structure, and the usual concerns when developing a property," stated At the Docks.
The hotel project would need all existing parking spaces onsite as well as additional parking.
The need for Parcel B across the street at 17 Main St. is also discussed. Ogdensburg native and developer Nick Wright is looking to obtain Parcel B, along with Parcel A, to build a high-end mini golf course there. Wright, along with another unidentified submission, have supplied Request for Proposals for Parcel A.
"We cannot continue to store the marine docks (plus additional maintenance equipment) during the winter months in the current parking lot once the hotel is built as we have in the last couple of years. We have been in negotiations with the City of Ogdensburg to purchase 17 Main Street as far back as 2019. For reasons already stated by the city officials, the latest RFP negotiation process was never completed after several attempts to fulfill our request."
The post continued, "With all of this being said, due to the weight/size of the docks and general logistics of transporting them we have been trying to secure the neighboring property for storage. This is necessary as transporting the docks would require additional equipment and incur unnecessary costs, which is not within our current plan. Our intention is to build a storage & maintenance facility that will also house an office as well as provide an aesthetically pleasing structure to hide the sight of the docks during winter months."
Without Parcel B, At the Docks states that the hotel project cannot move forward. Wright has also said that he cannot move forward with the golf course without Parcel B. In 2021, At the Docks was granted Parcel B through the RFP process. However, At the Docks had yet to purchase the property from the city.
"Our vision is to create a vibrant waterfront destination and to foster a sense of community and connection to the surrounding area. The acquisition of this property is essential to the redevelopment of 119 W River St and we cannot move forward without it. This property is additionally needed for the staging of construction materials as we continue to work at the marina, restaurant and rehabilitation of the other buildings," the statement read.
At the Docks states that it is "their hope" that the city will continue to honor the agreement already in place for the sale of 17 Main Street, Parcel B, "to help make our vision a reality."
"Our commitment to the city is to construct the facility within an 18 month timeframe from the date of acquisition. We are committed to Ogdensburg and the surrounding community. We are a family owned business and long term residents of the area that continue to try and make Ogdensburg a better place to live and to work," the statement read.
