Oct 25, 2012 2 min read

California is in for a treat on Halloween – next Halloween. The Hampton Inn & Suites, originally scheduled to open this fall at California Technology Park, is now targeted for Oct. 31, 2013. The project was delayed to enable the developer, California Hotel Associates, to reduce costs on a project that came in about $1.3 million above the original $10.2 million budget. “They had to go back and do some value engineering to get costs in line,” said Bill McGowen, executive director of the Redevelopment Authority of Washington County, whose board approved the cost-cutting measures by a 4-0 vote Wednesday. Member Steve Toprani was absent. Those measures included deletion of banquet space, reduction of lighting in the parking lot and a slight modification in facade work. The cost of construction is now about $10.5 million, still above the original estimate, but the associates are “willing to do that to keep the quality of hotel up,” McGowen said. California Hotel Associates, a partnership of AVI Foodsystems Inc. and Summit Development, is building an 84-room hotel at the business park on a 5-acre plot purchased from the redevelopment authority, which owns the park. The project will cover 50,000 square feet, and is expected to be a financial boost for the borough, the business park and California University of Pennsylvania. There are no hotels in a town visited by hundreds of executives, industrial customers and relatives of students each week. “We said they have a year to complete this from when they start moving earth, essentially Oct. 31, 2013,” McGowen said. At its monthly meeting Wednesday, the authority also approved by a 4-0 vote a request by Millcraft Industries to extend its tax increment financing plan at the Crossroads building in downtown Washington to 2026. Millcraft wants more time to attract tenants. The county, Washington School District and now the authority have approved the request. Only the city has yet to give its OK. City Council will have a public hearing Nov. 1, then make a decision at its Dec. 3 meeting.