Don't put a hotel on my block, some say

The prospect of an 11-story hotel in a residential neighborhood near campus has become a contentious subject among residents.

Tonight, the Zoning Committee of the Spruce Hill Community Association is holding a meeting to discuss the proposed extended-stay hotel, which would be located at 40th and Pine streets.

Developers will present their plan during the meeting, which will be held at Spruce Hill Christian School, located at 42nd Street and Baltimore Avenue, at 7 p.m.

Community organizations and residents opposed to the construction of the hotel hope to respond to the developers' plans and ask questions about its logistics.

The site of the proposed hotel, named Campus-Inn, is owned by Penn and, if approved by local organizations and the University's Board of Trustees, would be leased to developers.

The most ardent complaints concern the hotel's planned 11-story height in a low-rise neighborhood and a lack of parking space to accommodate the increased traffic many say they believe the hotel will generate.

Developers, including Campus Apartments and Tom Lussenhop - Penn's former managing director of real estate - say the $20 million project will fulfill the demand for an extended-stay hotel for families of patients at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Lussenhop has also said the developers anticipate that the traffic increases caused by the hotel will not be overly intrusive and that the proposed valet parking system will be sufficient.

Lussenhop has said the hotel will be less pricey than the three other hotels in University City - the Inn at Penn, the Sheraton University City and Penn Tower - all of which are owned by Penn.

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