Despite dispute, Stony Brook getting campus hotel

Despite an unresolved legal dispute, Stony Brook Hotel Corp. plans to open a Hilton hotel on the Stony Brook University campus by fall of next year.

Robert Frey, the corporation's chief executive, said construction of the hotel will start within a few days. "We're moving with all due speed," he added.

The new hotel will be a five-story building with 135 rooms, conference space, a restaurant and recreational amenities, Frey said. The building will take up about 3.7 acres of the 11 acres of land off Nicolls Road that the company is leasing from Stony Brook University.

Hilton Hotels will be franchising the new lodging, which will bear the name Hilton Garden Inn Stony Brook University. A Virginia-based developer, Crescent Hotels and Resorts, will be handling the operations of the hotel. The company's website listed fall 2012 as the expected opening date.

Some students, faculty and environmental activists opposed construction of the hotel when plans were initially announced in 2009. Critics say the building activity will raze part of a green belt and harm a local salamander habitat.

The Stony Brook Environmental Conservancy and others filed suit in 2009 against the State University of New York, seeking to void the ground lease. The lawsuit was dismissed by a Suffolk County judge in May, but George Locker, the plaintiffs' lawyer, said he has filed a notice of appeal. The plaintiffs are currently gathering the paperwork for the appeal, which should be ready by September, he said.

Locker added he contacted the state attorney general asking that Stony Brook halt construction until the appeal, but he never heard back.

On the campus website the university says the hotel is needed "to accommodate the thousands of guests and visitors who attend university events and activities every year."