Pinnacle unveils plans for new 35M hotel project in downtown Montclair

Montclair is slated to get its first new hotel in decades under a $35 million, 120,000-square-foot project unveiled Monday night by the Pinnacle Cos.The locally based developer said it plans to build the 148-room hotel at Bloomfield Avenue and Orange Road in the township’s popular downtown. When it opens — as soon as early 2016 — the facility will be branded as “The MC” and be part of the Autograph Collection, a portfolio of independent hotels operated by Marriott International.

Pinnacle expects to break ground by year’s end, with construction taking about 15 months.

The project is the first full-service hotel to open in Montclair since the Hotel Montclair, which closed in 1938, Pinnacle CEO Brian Stolar said. He noted that many of the area’s hotels have been built close to highway exits over the past several decades, but few are within walking distance of the types of amenities seen in the Essex County suburb.

“The competition is old, it’s tired, it’s not so interesting anymore if you look at the other hotels that are in the general area,” Stolar said. “So we think that there can be a lot of interest for folks to come to Montclair and have a much more interesting hotel experience, and be in a downtown where they can walk to restaurants.”

He added that he believes Montclair can become more of a regional destination.

The MC’s amenities will include a farm-to-table restaurant, a rooftop bar with city views and a lobby library, Pinnacle said in a news release.  An outdoor plaza connected to a two-story round atrium with 30-foot-high glass walls will be open year-round to the public.  

“The hotel’s original, one-of-a-kind design — complete with an urban rooftop amenity that engages the skyline — will complement Montclair’s organic street life,” said Chris Lessard, president and CEO, Lessard Design, the project’s master development architect.  “The tremendous public spaces surrounding the base of the project are a culmination of the township’s master plan to create a new gateway to downtown Montclair.” 

The project is also part of Pinnacle’s footprint in the suburb’s downtown, as it continues its work on a four-acre, mixed-use redevelopment plan known as Centro Verde. The company and its co-developer, LCOR, broke ground last fall on the first phase, which includes 258 apartments and 50,000 square feet of retail and commercial space on Bloomfield Avenue and Valley Road.

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