CRANBERRY TWP — A hotel and a separate event center may be coming.

The township planning commission Monday night reviewed plans for a new hotel and an event center that would host business conferences and weddings.

A 67,910-square-foot Best Western Plus hotel is proposed for 2.2 acres on Cranberry Springs Drive near the intersection with Mars Road.

The hotel would be six stories and have 101 rooms and the same number of parking spaces.

It will be between the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex and the new Dick’s Sporting Goods store.

There is a single-family home on the property, which is owned by John Miller Jr., according to Butler County real estate records.

Nittany Hotel Group of Pittsburgh, the developer, has an agreement to buy the land and demolish the house, said William Nuttall, principal.

The house, the lone residential structure in that area, was built in the 1950s before much of the commercial development along Route 228, Nuttall said.

The plan calls for pervious asphalt that allows stormwater to pass through it and collect in an underground drainage system instead of in an above-ground pond.

This would be the first such system to be built in the township, and the township engineers believe it would be effective if properly maintained, said Jason Kratsas, township director of engineering and environmental services.

“The main point of it is monitoring to make sure the pavement is still taking water, that it is being swept and cleaned properly. But other than that it should be a pretty foolproof system,” he said.

There are 4,100 Best Western locations in 100 countries, according to the company’s website. The hotel would be the first Best Western Plus in Western Pennsylvania.

The company introduced its more upscale Plus and Premier varieties in 2010 to improve its public image, Nuttall told the commission.

“Because Best Western had that stigma of the old beat-up hotel ... they thought it was time to change,” he said.

The commission voted to recommend the application to the township supervisors.

If approved, the developer hopes to start construction in June and be finished in about one year.

Also at the meeting, the commission voted to recommend to the supervisors a revised conditional application use for one of the buildings in phase two of the Village of Cranberry Woods, along Cranberry Woods Drive.

A structure previously proposed was a drive-through restaurant, but now it is proposed as a Noah’s Event Venue.

The 7,840-square-foot building would host weddings and business conferences with a maximum capacity of about 200 people. Food would be catered, not prepared on site.

Noah’s Event Venue, based in Utah, lists 34 locations on its website including one in Cranberry and several others that are planned or under construction.

Ron Henshaw, township planning and development services director, said Cranberry does not have an event center like this.

“We’re really excited about this use. We think it fills a great niche in the township,” he said.

The already approved second phase of the Village of Cranberry Woods includes 351 apartments, a 361-room hotel and several other buildings.

The developer has been doing grading work on the property, and Henshaw said he anticipates that construction on the apartments will begin in 30 to 45 days.