Originally Published April 9, 2025
Baltimore Business Journal
By Elizabeth Drachman
Frederick is finally getting a hotel and conference center. It’s been a long time coming.
The $103 million development aims to boost Frederick's tourism and business sectors.
To read the article in its entirety: https://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2025/04/09/frederick-maryland-hotel-conference-center.html
Originally Published January 24, 2025
Frederick News-Post
By Cameron Adams
The city of Frederick’s Historic Preservation Commission on Thursday unanimously approved a lighting plan for the downtown hotel and conference center project.
All other elements of the design of the Frederick Conference Center Hotel at Carroll Creek — a 208-room Marriott-branded hotel — were approved during a Nov. 14 HPC meeting.
To read the article in its entirety: https://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/economy_and_business/real_estate_and_development/downtown-hotels-lighting-plan-approved-by-historic-preservation-commission/article_4f9c3e89-f878-5386-8670-cd203f671766.html
Originally Published June 18, 2024
Frederick News-Post
By Ryan Marshall rmarshall@newspost.com
Excerpt: Several members of Frederick’s Planning Commission are unhappy with the architectural plans for a hotel and conference center planned along Carroll Creek in the city’s downtown.
Commission chairwoman Joan Strawson and member Ron Beattie expressed their reservations during a workshop discussion on the project Monday.
To read the article in its entirety: https://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/economy_and_business/employment/citys-planning-commission-critiques-plans-for-hotel-project/article_cbc3bed8-630c-564c-80f6-a1cff0c5ce83.html
The downtown hotel team comprised of the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce, The City of Frederick Department of Economic Development, Frederick County Office of Economic Development, Downtown Frederick Partnership and Visit Frederick are enthusiastic about the results of the updated economic impact study and the ongoing discussions between the City and County about this critical project. To view the report in its entirety on the Chamber of Commerce website, click the link below.
Originally Published February 8, 2018
Frederick News-Post
By Mallory Panuska mpanuska@newspost.com
Marrying flexibility and history, a final design for the former Frederick Railroad building on East Patrick Street is approved and ready for implementation as part of the proposed downtown hotel and conference center.
Members of the city’s Historic Preservation Commission voted unanimously Thursday to approve plans to rehabilitate the early 20th-century building and turn it into a commercial spot. The building is one of the only structures on the 200-212 E. Patrick St. site set to remain standing within the plans for a four-story, 180-room hotel and 20,000-square-foot conference center. The commission spent many hours over the past several months going over the details of the renovation plans with developers Plamondon Hospitality Partners and architects from the two firms working on the project — Peter Fillat Architects and Bates Architects — before landing on the final version approved Thursday.
“We’re excited,” said architect Peter Fillat, the principal of Peter Fillat architects, after Thursday’s vote.
From trolleys and electricity to newspapers and art, the building has a storied history. The developers’ goal was to create a building that preserves that history and provides flexibility that could appeal to a variety of tenants. The developers and architects have said that attracting commercial tenants to a historic building can be a challenge.
The plans include four design options for different numbers of commercial tenants on the ground floor. The second level is designed for residential or office space.
The first, one-tenant option would gut the first level of the building, except for the significant interior structural walls. The second option would fit the ground floor for two tenants, while the third would accommodate three tenants. The fourth option, which Fillat called the most favorable in the last workshop, would turn the first floor of the building into a market.
The renovations approved Thursday include cleaning brick walls, repairing windows, repairing and replacing historic doors, reconstructing stone steps on the corner entrances, installing storefront windows and doors on the east and west sides of the train shed, installing fabric awnings and metal canopies at the first-floor window and door openings, restoring the original trolley car openings and installing metal and glass sectional garage doors, installing and screening a new rooftop HVAC system, and installing light fixtures.
The commissioners approved the majority of the renovation application as is, minus a stipulation to install diagonal supports on the awnings, per Chairman Dan Lawton.
Lawton, who made the motion for approval, said he was concerned about the proposed canopies projecting out and wanted to ensure they are supported. Fillat said after the vote that he had no problem with adding supports to the design.
The approval of the design is the final bureaucratic step in the development of the railroad building. The hotel and conference center, which will both be new buildings, still have approvals to obtain. The proposed structures have already gone through an initial approval to set height and size and will move next to the Planning Commission for site plan approvals. Once those approvals are granted, the plans will go back to the Historic Preservation Commission for design approval.
History of the Frederick Railroad building
Built in 1910, the building’s first use was an all-in-one terminal, waiting room, ticket office and freight depot to accommodate the trolley line that ran through western Maryland. Potomac Edison Co. was headquartered there, and operated a 17-mile stretch of trolley line from Frederick to Thurmont and sold electricity on the side. While the trolley line fizzled out in the late 1930s, Potomac Edison continued its electricity business at the building until 1967. The following year, The Frederick Post moved its headquarters into the building and remained there — after merging to become The Frederick News-Post in 2000 — until 2008. Since then, the space has been used a pop-up arts venue but today remains primarily vacant as it awaits its planned makeover.
Originally Published November 9, 2017
Frederick News-Post
By Mallory Panuska mpanuska@newspost.com
After months of discussion and tweaking, developers and architects working on Frederick’s proposed downtown hotel and conference center cleared a “major hurdle” Thursday with the city’s Historic Preservation Commission.
“Tonight was a major hurdle that we passed after many, many workshops and a lot of good back-and-forth between the Historic Preservation Commission and the development team,” developer Pete Plamondon Jr. said after commissioners voted 5-1 to approve a Level 1 review of the multimillion-dollar project.
The Level 1 review includes details regarding the height, mass, scale and general layout of the four-story, 180-room hotel, 20,000-square-foot conference center, neighboring retail building and courtyard planned for 200-212 E. Patrick St., along Carroll Creek.
Richard Griffin, the city’s director of economic development, said the approved plans will now go to the city’s Planning Commission. The commissioners will review roads, utilities and other details to help develop a site plan. The plans will then go back to the Historic Preservation Commission for a Level 2 review, which Griffin said includes the finer elements of the design, such as materials, lighting, landscaping and other details.
The commissioners held four workshops since July with architects from Bates Architects and Peter Fillat Architects, and developers with Plamondon Hospitality Partners and gave feedback on various elements of the design and construction, according to the guidelines of the Frederick Town Historic District.
Running parallel to those efforts are meetings between the project partners, key stakeholders, members of local preservation and cultural groups, the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Maryland Historical Trust. So far one informational meeting was held in late October and was well-attended, according to officials who went. The meetings are required as part of the Maryland Historical Trust Act of 1985’s consultation process, which requires state agencies to consult with the trust on projects receiving assistance. The downtown hotel project is set to receive money from the department.
Several members of the public who spoke at Thursday’s meeting expressed concern that members of the trust and Department of Housing and Community Development have not weighed in on details of the project included in the Level 1 review.
Anthony Moscato, chairman of the Frederick Preservation Trust, a local preservation advocacy group, asked the commissioners to postpone their decision on the review until those officials have full discussions about various studies completed to determine the impact of the building and other mitigation details.
Commissioner Matt Bonin agreed that the trust’s feedback is important to the project and served as the lone opposition vote to the Level 1 approval as a result.
Other speakers from the public expressed concerns about the height and massing of the project. Frederick resident John Menke said the hotel as designed could block the view of the city’s clustered spires. Jane Weir, a longtime opponent of the project, expressed concern about the lack of a solid 3-D design for the project and worries about the hotel taking up the entire area and disrupting the streetscape.
Most of the commissioners said they understand those concerns but do not believe the size is a major issue.
“I’m generally in favor of this project. It’s a hotel, it’s not a house, it’s not a small shop,” Commissioner Stephen Parnes said of the size. “This is [a] major, major structure in our downtown.”
Commission Chairman Dan Lawton agreed with Parnes’ assessment and pointed out that the commission’s job is primarily to ensure the developers do not “plop down a suburban Marriott hotel” in the downtown historic district. He said the architects and developers have listened to the concerns of the commissioners in the many workshops they held, made modifications based on their feedback, and are expected to make more.
The project is set to come to fruition with both public and private dollars. The city, county and state are slated to contribute a total $31 million for infrastructure, parking land acquisition and site preparation, and the developers are set to pay the remaining construction and building costs.
The project has been in the works for years and made significant headway with the unveiling of the first design in the spring and a vote from the Historic Preservation Commission in September to allow demolition of the historic Birely Tannery building on the site. The vote gave the green light for the preferred design, which does not include the tannery.
Plans for preserving the elements of the site will come from the Maryland Historical Trust and Department of Housing and Community Development and will be incorporated into a memorandum of agreement with the city as part of the project plans.
Griffin said the organizations are set to host another meeting Tuesday similar to the one last month at which more mitigation details will be discussed. The invitation-only meetings are not open to the public.
