OXFORD — Groundbreaking on a $15 million, 93-room Hampton Inn hotel across from the Oxford Casino began Wednesday, developers said at a news conference.

GIRI Group LLC President Ashish Sangani stood with local legislators, town officials and economic leaders and made the long-awaited announcement.

Formerly owned by members of the Hall family, the 4 acres of farmland where the hotel will be built is next to Crestholm Farm Stand on Route 26, directly across from the Oxford Casino.

Sangani said the hotel would be completed in the next 11 to 12 months. 

He said hotel projects typically go unnoticed and without considerable fanfare. “I’m very happy; it felt like I was doing something right,” he said. “It’s fulfilling.”  

According to an application GIRI submitted to the town, the hotel could create 23 part- and full-time jobs, including executive, administrative, clerical, maintenance and transportation, with salaries ranging from $25,000 to $80,000. An estimated 50 to 90 temporary jobs will be created through construction.

Officials say a hotel is a natural complement to the Oxford Casino, which opened its doors in 2012. John Williams, executive director of the Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce, said, “Once this is built, it will be a catalyst for jobs.” 

Nearby, an excavator loaded debris into a tractor-trailer from a barn, one of several barns Michael Raitto, a project supervisor from New York contractor Calamar, said would be removed over the next week.

Suzanne Hall said the family farmhouse, built circa 1840, a pen for goats and the Crestholm Farm Stand were not to be removed. 

After the debris is removed, crews will raise the hill’s slope several feet, Raitto said. Traffic delays will be minimal, he added.  

A year after earthwork began on the site, Wednesday’s announcement appeared to allay anxieties over perceived delays in the project after developers missed their first deadline to secure tax breaks from the town. 

Sangani said construction on the site would have begun a year ago if not for the “tricky” site. For example, he said, the slope will be raised about 8 feet before the hotel is built. 

Under developers’ current deal with the town, if GIRI increases the site’s property value by at least $10 million by next April, it will be reimbursed for infrastructure improvements related to parking and sewer maintenance.  

The contract allows the Quincy, Mass.-based company to retain 20 percent of the taxes generated through property development, which will be placed in a separate account managed by the town. The remainder, along with user fees, will be used by the town toward a $23.7 million sewer system.

Prior to the sale of the casino in 2013 to Churchill Downs, developers said they wanted to build a resort around the casino, including hotels, restaurants, a spa and a convention center. Casino spokeswoman Jane McClay Hoyt said there are no current plans for expansion. 

“We’re pleased that job growth will continue with the addition of a great employer to the area and we’re confident that the Hampton Inn will join us in promoting the entire Route 26 corridor,” McClay Hoyt said. 

Patrick Casalinova of Casalinova Development Group of Oxford, which helped GIRI Group obtain permits for the project, said Wednesday that plans for retail development, restaurants and additional lodgings around the hotel were moving forward. 

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