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Hazleton Area, Wyoming Seminary defeated in semifinals of District 2 Girls Tennis Tournament

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Joey Bosa’s numbers don’t tell whole story

WILKES-BARRE TWP. &#8212; Construction of a more than $11 million high-end, boutique hotel catering to business travelers received approval Tuesday from the township zoning hearing board.The hotel, not part of any chain, will be located on Mundy Street and go by the name of Aqua Blue, said Alex Belavitz of Facility Design &amp; Development Inc.Belavitz, a principal in the architecture and planning firm with offices in Scranton and New York City, sought permission to exceed the township&#8217;s height limit of three stories and to build on less than the three acres required for hotels.Limited horizontally, the hotel requires four stories in order for the owner, Color Hospitality LLC of Flemington, New Jersey, to be able to manage and operate it and service the debt it will take on to build it, Belavitz said.&#8220;We wouldn&#8217;t be able to do that if we couldn&#8217;t get the extra floor in,&#8221; he told the four-member board.The project will complement the Mohegan Sun Pocono casino with its own hotel and conference center a mile away in nearby Plains Township and will cater primarily to business travelers, Belavitz explained. &#8220;No one&#8217;s quite hitting this market segment, &#8221; he said.Belavitz said his firm did five projects at Mohegan Sun Pocono. &#8220;We know the expectations of the clientele there,&#8221; he said.Belavitz described the hotel as being &#8220;well appointed&#8221; with higher end finishes and amenities, a VIP lounge on the top floor and a martini bar on the ground floor and an atrium entrance that will be well lit at night to call attention to the location near the Orloski&#8217;s Car Wash and Lube Shop.&#8220;We&#8217;re creating kind of our own sense of branding if you will,&#8221; Belavitz said.The project will be put out for bid in the first week of November and construction should begin in December, Belavitz said. The project will generate 25 jobs, he added.Board member Tom Woods welcomed the project. &#8220;I just want to say what a nice addition this will be. We all here consider that area our gem,&#8221; Woods said.It received a unanimous 4-0 vote.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Jerry Lynottjlynott@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLNews</shirttailMeta></div>

$11 million boutique hotel approved for Wilkes-Barre Township