The vital hotel and business-hosting resource in Greenwich, The Delamar on Greenwich Harbor, has created a sibling in Southport via an adjusted model with roots in foreclosure.
Clearview Investment Management acquired the Old Post Road hotel property in Southport, which was, prior to bank foreclosure proceedings in 2007, being developed by another company as the Southport Village Inn.
Clearview, headed by principal Charles Mallory, has since scripted the formula into a miniature village with a hotel with 46 rooms, a restaurant with seating for nearly 100, office space and condominiums.
“I think we”™ve really got something special here,” said Mallory who is also a principal of the Greenwich Hospitality Group, which owns the hotels.
Called Delamar Southport, the hotel will have a Mediterranean-style restaurant operated by an undisclosed restaurateur with outdoor and indoor dining. The hotel also has 10,000 square feet of office space that is to hold three businesses: Turbine Creative, a marketing and advertising company; Chembulk, an international shipper ”“ both are moving from Westport ”“ and an unnamed interior designer.
The Delamar Southport also contains six condominiums. The hotel itself has 46 rooms, with different levels of suites and design, with namesakes that range from exotic places to Hollywood stars. With the addition of Southport, the umbrella hotel company Greenwich Hospitality is now comprised of The Delamar on Greenwich Harbor, Delamar Southport and the recently acquired Hotel Zero Degrees in Stamford. A fourth Greenwich hotel is expected to be announced in the fall.
“The look and feel of the buildings fit into Southport; it”™s more traditional seaport community style,” said Gary Mitchell, vice president of sales and marketing for the Greenwich Hospitality Group. “All of the suites in the hotel have been designed by different designers, all local Fairfield talent. They were given free range to bring their styles to the suites, each one is unique.”
Mitchell said the artwork throughout the hotel is commissioned through local galleries like Samuel Owen Gallery in Stamford and Southport Galleries. The eclectic, sometimes-fun and sometimes-traditional art was a project of Mallory, an art enthusiast in his own right.
“It will change out periodically; we have a nice mix of contemporary and pop-style art,” said Mitchell.
Mallory said that while not the prime objective of the art, each piece will be available for sale to guests.
“We”™ve really proven to be a business hospitality element in Greenwich,” said Mallory. “The restaurant, and the hotel that drives everything has been a real labor of love. I wanted to have some fun here; you have a sophisticated somewhat European, somewhat urban experience in the context of a small New England town.”
First Selectman Ken Flatto said Delamar Southport will provide a nice complement to the Southport scene. “We’ve had Class A lodging facilities lacking,” said Flatto. “It’s a very important site. We’re thrilled.”
Mallory has invited Southport residents to come into the hotel and see the inside of the new neighborhood fixture.
Mallory said the Delamar has been open in Greenwich for seven years and during breakfast, lunch and dinner business talks are being held.
“I think we have learned a lot from running Greenwich,” said Mallory. “It”™s perfectly situated at being at the other end of the county and being in an area that has particularly been underserved. I do truly hope that this becomes part of the fabric of this Southport community. This is the idea of a hotel that has existed for hundreds of years and often is the core of the community. I hope we can become that.”
