A story in the Conway Daily Sun on April 3, 2024 discussed how the potential development of the Red Jacket Property in North Conway.
Here is a quick summary of what is happening:
- Ashok Patel, the new owner of the Red Jacket Mountain View Resort, plans to build housing units on its property, which includes 25 apartments and 89 townhouses.
- The redevelopment project is scheduled for review at the Conway Planning Board meeting on April 11.
- The proposal includes remodeling and reconstructing parts of the resort and adding residential structures at 2251 White Mountain Highway, North Conway.
- The town's commercial building moratorium extension does not impact this housing development proposal, focusing on a conceptual review rather than a formal site plan review.
- The conceptual plans show housing units located on the resort's front lawn and the former tennis courts area.
- Despite a moratorium on building large commercial structures, this project is exempt because it plans to rebuild on the pre-fire footprint of the south wing, which was destroyed in a fire on April 30, 2022.
- Concerns were raised by selectmen's representative Steve Porter about overdevelopment and the use of the resort's green space.
- The resort will be renamed Birchmont Resort and Spa, aiming to enhance the local ecosystem and contribute positively to the valley.
- The south wing of the resort did not have a complete automatic sprinkler system at the time of the fire, reflecting on regulations for such systems in non-high-rise hotels.