Lendlease breaks ground on Candlewood Suites hotel at Fort Drum

FORT DRUM, N.Y. — Lendlease, a global construction and real-estate development firm, has started work on Fort Drum’s future Candlewood Suites hotel after breaking ground on the project July 18.

Lendlease is also developer for the Privatization of Army Lodging (PAL) program and owner of Fort Drum Mountain Community Homes, the company said in a news release.

Lendlease is a firm that specializes in project management and construction, and real estate investment and development. It is based in Sydney, Australia with U.S. headquarters in New York City, according to its website. Lendlease employs about 12,000 people worldwide.

Part of the PAL program, Lendlease is the Fort Drum hotel’s owner, developer, design-builder, and asset manager, the company said. IHG (InterContinental Hotels Group) is the hotel operator.

Construction is scheduled for completion in October 2018. Lendlease declined to disclose a project cost.

The new Candlewood Suites on Fort Drum will include studios and one-bedroom suites, kitchens in guest rooms, a 24-hour “Candlewood Cupboard” for food and beverages, business and fitness centers, a barbeque gazebo, guest laundry facilities, and courtesy on-post shuttle services.

Lendlease crews will build the hotel with cross laminated timber (CLT), a building product made from layers of pressed lumber board, as described in the Lendlease release. CLT offers builders “maximized strength and durability with added sustainability and conservation benefits, and is projected to achieve significant energy savings when compared to typical hotel buildings of the same size for the same climate.”

“The Candlewood Suites on Fort Drum was designed to meet the specific needs of today’s service members, their families, and all government travelers,” Gretchen Griffin, senior VP and general manager for Lendlease’s lodging portfolio, said in the release.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com