Planning board approves Treadway hotel redevelopment with public harbor walk, adds shuttle and delivery conditions

The Newport Planning Board on Sept. 8 approved a master-plan proposal to renovate and expand the Newport Harbor Hotel (often called the Treadway), including an elevated podium with new retail and a publicly accessible 250-yard harbor walk.

Attorney Peter Regan, representing 49 Newport Hotel LLC, told the board the project would add 31 guest rooms — increasing the hotel from 133 to 164 rooms — create roughly 4,600 square feet of new retail, add about 1,300 square feet of meeting space and provide "approximately 30,000 square feet of public access in close proximity to the harbor," while preserving the existing 168 on-site parking spaces. The architect, Justin Heady of Centerbrook Architects, said the design raises occupied floors above current FEMA elevation levels and situates meeting and retail space on an elevated podium to reconnect the site with Bowen's Wharf and Paraty Park.

The board found that the unique site constraints along the waterfront, plus the public-access tradeoffs offered by the applicant, justified modest dimensional relief. As conditions of approval, the board required that the applicant file and record a permanent public easement for the harbor walk; provide a written action plan establishing a shuttle service for hotel guests and drop-off/pick-up operations; and limit commercial deliveries to a morning window (the board's conditions specify 5:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.). Acting Chair Margaret Polsky said the conditions were intended to reduce added pressure on local parking and circulation while securing the public-access benefit.

Traffic consultant Paul Bannon told the board the project's trip-generation analysis (ITE methodology) estimated an additional ~25 vehicle trips in the morning peak, ~47 in the evening peak and ~52 on a typical Saturday midday; he concluded those increases would not materially degrade roadway operations near the site. The applicant's team also described new bicycle and scooter parking, five EV chargers, and stormwater infrastructure upgrades designed to meet state water-quality standards.

The board voted unanimously to adopt the staff report and to grant the requested variances and the Category 3 special-use permit, with the conditions described above. Board members indicated the recorded easement and the shuttle/delivery plan would be verified as part of final administrative review before the project proceeds to preliminary and final phases.