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A new $30 million hotel could be the forerunner of even more development on the North Shore near PNC Park.

Kratsa Properties, a prominent Harmar-based developer, on Thursday marked the start of construction for its new 180-room Marriott Residence Inn at General Robinson Street and Mazeroski Way by saying that it eventually may add more commercial projects between the new hotel and its existing Marriott SpringHill Suites Hotel at Federal and General Robinson streets.

That could include retail, restaurants, condominium units, office space, or a combination of two or more of those elements on what is a three-acre parking lot site.

"It's still purely conceptual, but we just know that having two great hotels on either side, should only bode well with what can happen in the middle," said Merrill Stabile, president of Alco Parking, and owner of the property.

Stabile could be a partner in the project along with Kratsa and possibly other investors.

Kim Clackson of CB Richard Ellis/Pittsburgh, a Downtown-based commercial real estate firm, is involved in marketing the project.

Like other Kratsa hotel projects in the region, the new Marriott Residence Inn will be built with private money, said William Kratsa Jr., the company's general partner. "No public funds are involved," he said.

The new Marriott is scheduled to open by January 2010.

If all the company's development plans come to fruition, its overall investment Downtown, on the North Shore and South Shore, could total more than $100 million by the end of that year, said David Cocco, Kratsa's vice president of hotel operations.

"Kratsa does not build cookie-cutter hotels, but ones that are architecturally pleasing and fit into the neighborhood," said Mayor Luke Ravenstahl.

The new 10-story L-shaped hotel, which will have 126 studio, 36 one-bedroom and 18 two-bedroom apartments, will have a front court in the shape of a baseball diamond outlined with all three bases and home plate, Kratsa said.

Its first floor will contain a swimming pool, spa, exercise area, billiards room and a convenience store. Outside, there will be a fire pit and large grill.

The hotel will cater to extended-stay customers, Kratsa said. Daily room rates are projected about $180 per night. "This kind of upscale, extended-stay hotel does not exist in this section (North Shore) of the market," he said.

"The Kratsa people are smart operators, and if they are investing, they see a market there," said Joseph McGrath, president of VisitPittsburgh, the region's convention and visitors attraction organization.

But with a spate of hotel construction and planning under way in the marketplace, McGrath said some investors may begin to question how much more the local market can sustain.

Eight hotel projects are planned or under construction in the city and in neighborhoods ranging from Downtown to Oakland, Shadyside and East Liberty, according to the year-end 2007 Pittsburgh Real Estate Overall Market Review produced by GVA Oxford, a local real estate management company. Collectively, the projects add up to almost 1,150 new rooms.

Nonetheless, McGrath said the region's hotel occupancy stacks up fairly well against figures from a number of other cities, such as Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit and Indianapolis.

Figures show the Pittsburgh area with a 52.6 occupancy rate through March for its 22,046 rooms, said Bobby Bowers, vice president for Smith Travel Research, a Nashville, Tenn.-based hospitality industry research and tracking firm.

That compared to 48.1 percent and 47.4 percent, respectively for Cincinnati and Cleveland, 52.2 for Detroit and 53.4 for Indianapolis, he said.

In addition to its North Shore hotel, Kratsa is building or has plans for a 115-room Marriott SpringHill Suites on the South Side, the 142-room Marriott at the Pittsburgh Technology Center in South Oakland and the 156-room Hilton Garden Inn to be built on a vacant site at Forbes Avenue and Ross Street, Downtown.

Other active developers in the area include Keith McGraw, a partner with Mark LaPort in Concord Hospitality, who said he has plans to build three more hotels while a fourth is under construction on Neville Island.

The hotels, all of which will carry the Marriott brand, include 125-room hotels at Settlers Ridge in Robinson and the Tanger Outlet Mall in Washington County, and a 110-room hotel at Bakery Square in East Liberty.

Other hotels under construction, include a 185-room Fairmont hotel as part of the new Three PNC Plaza, Downtown. And Forest City Enterprises is still contemplating construction of up to 500 additional rooms to its Westin Convention Center Hotel, Downtown.

Several other hotels have been announced for East Liberty.

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