Work is underway at the site of the future Chautauqua Harbor Hotel in Celoron. Trees have been cleared from the site. P-J photo by Jimmy McCarthy

CELORON — The land is clear for the coming of the Chautauqua Harbor Hotel in Celoron.

Trees were removed from the waterfront property located on Dunham Avenue and Duquesne Street. Work to bring a hotel to the Celoron waterfront began in 2014 when Peter Krog, CEO of Krog Corp., and Dave Hart, president and CEO of Hart Hotels out of Buffalo, bought the land.

The $30.8 million project is planning to be ready for guests in spring 2018. Plans detail over 130 guest rooms, a banquet facility, pools and a bar and cocktail lounge, among other amenities.

The hotel project received all board approvals needed to proceed with construction.

The Chautauqua Harbor Hotel would be Krog and Hart’s third in New York state. In 2008, the $14 million Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel opened. The hotel was voted by USA Today as the best waterfront hotel in the country.

Six years later, Krog Corp. and Hart Hotels opened the Thousand Islands Harbor Hotel along the St. Lawrence River, which features 105 deluxe guest rooms and suites.

Krog told The Post-Journal in September he believes the Chautauqua Harbor Hotel will do better than the other hotels because those “don’t have a community such as Jamestown close by.”

The hotel project garnered the state’s attention as the Regional Economic Development Council awarded the project $1.9 million in December 2015. In October, the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency’s Board of Directors approved a tourism destination payment in lieu of tax, a mortgage recording tax and sales tax benefits for the project.

“They have a model that’s worked in other places and this type of investment is big for this area,” said Kevin Sanvidge, administrative director and chief executive officer for the IDA. “They’re creating 110 jobs, $2 million in payroll, and that’s not counting sales tax or bed tax that will come in to raise the tax base. This falls right into place with that, which ultimately helps us lower taxes so we can attract more people here.”