Construction Work Under Way on New Hotel along McKnight Road

A 38-unit, four-story chain hotel at the site of the former Pizza Hut property at 4607 McKnight Road is under construction and is expected to open in April or May, the developer said. 

"We're framing right now and expect to start dry-walling in a week or so," said Darmish Surati, one of the owners of the Bridgeville-based Forza Group, the hotel developer. 

He said the group does not yet have a tenant for the hotel, which is being built on a previously vacant 33,578-square-foot lot next to the . 

"We'll be finalizing that in a couple of months," he said. 

According to the building application filed with the Ross Township Planning Department, the plan calls for a hotel "such as a Comfort Inn or similar chain." 

Surati said the inside decor is expected to be very contemporary. 

"It will be something Ross Township hasn't seen before," he said. 

The vacant lot being redeveloped was formerly home to a Pizza Hut restaurant and nightclub known as the Mirage. Fire and a landslide damaged the original building, which later was torn down.

The Ross Board of Commissioners .