MONTCLAIR, NJ — Avison Young announced that the company’s New Jersey-based Project Management Services group has been retained as construction manager and general contractor for The MC hotel, the first-of-its-kind, new, boutique hotel in Montclair in nearly 80 years. A joint-venture partnership of The Pinnacle Companies, The Hampshire Companies and Circle Squared Alternative Investments recently commenced construction on the 120,000 s/f, 151-room hotel, which will rise at Bloomfield Ave. and Orange Rd. The eight-story boutique hotel will be part of Marriott International’s Autograph Collection and is expected to be completed in early 2018. It will include a farm-to-table restaurant and a 12,000 s/f conference and event space. Plans also call for a rooftop bar that offers panoramic views of Manhattan to the east and the Eagle Rock Reservation to the west. An outdoor public plaza connected to a three-story glass atrium will create a year-round gathering place. The Avison Young team of Edward Walsh, P.E., principal and managing director of project management services; John Mercurio, vice-president of construction; and Christopher Bezzone, project manager, is overseeing the assignment. “At Avison Young, we’ve strategically built a Project Management Services group that can adeptly meet the varying needs of owners and investors, and this assignment is a great example of our dexterity,” Walsh said. “Pinnacle CM company, the construction management arm of The Pinnacle Companies, will also be working with Avison Young on government relations and as the owner’s representative for furniture, fixtures and equipment. We’re thrilled to play a role in bringing to life a project that will surely become an iconic part of the landscape of Montclair.” The MC hotel is the second phase of the Montclair Center Gateway Redevelopment Plan, which was enacted in 2011 to encourage a sustainable mixed-use development at the western edge of Montclair’s downtown. The redevelopment plan also includes the Valley & Bloom mixed-use residential project developed by Montclair-based Pinnacle and LCOR. The MC hotel development team will work with the community to develop cultural activities for the rooftop bar area, such as morning yoga, programs with Jazz House Kids and the Montclair Film Festival. It will feature art exhibitions in the two-story art atrium, and its owners expect the hotel to collaborate on events with nearby Montclair State University. “We’re proud to work on a project that will put Montclair on the map as one of New Jersey’s truly premier destinations for visitors,” Mercurio said. “It’s also gratifying to oversee the construction of a building that is complementary to the existing fabric of Montclair. The MC is the type of compelling project that excites our team and allows us to excel.”