ATHOL — Members of Athol’s Economic Development & Industrial Corp. and other town officials are remaining optimistic after a site visit to the parcel adjacent to the North Quabbin Commons shopping center on Market Drive, where the town is seeking a developer to establish a hotel.

The July 29 gathering took place about two weeks after a request for proposals (RFP) and a site visit for interested developers was advertised in several regional and statewide business publications. Despite the outreach, no developers showed up to the meeting, which was attended by EDIC members, Town Manager Shaun Suhoski, and Athol Planning and Development Director Eric Smith.

Still, Suhoski said he was not discouraged by the disappointing turnout, as he and the EDIC plan to continue to reach out to the various national hotel chains that have been mentioned as possible developers of the property.

“We’re going to reach out to the Mass. Office of Development, I’m going to reach out to other contacts I have to see if they have any suggestions. We’ll try to list the site on CoStar, a commercial real estate platform,” Suhoski said, adding that he will also contact DeMoulas. “We’ve talked to them before because we got an easement for the water tower, and we’ve also talked with them about this development.”

He added that EDIC member Mark Wright had made a good point at the meeting when he noted that a presidential election is right around the corner, which may make developers more cautious.

“People may be waiting to see how the election comes out, as well as waiting on the Federal Reserve to make a decision on interest rates,” Suhoski said.

The EDIC did, however, receive three inquiries from three “nationally branded chains” the day after last week’s scheduled meeting and site visit.

While news of the inquiries is welcome, EDIC Chair Keith McGuirk said he isn’t getting too excited because an inquiry is just the start of a long process.

“At this point,” he said, “that’s great, but they’re just inquiries. I mean, it’s not like somebody called up and said, ‘We want to buy the place.’ They are inquiries for information and they were sent the link to the RFP on the town website that they need.”

McGuirk also reiterated Suhoski’s statement that the RFP will be placed on CoStar.

“That’s a database used by commercial buyers and brokers who look for various types of property,” he said.

Asked if last week’s meeting was scheduled too soon after initial publication of the RFP, McGuirk said “it’s hard to say.”

“Frankly, the commercial market throughout this country is not great right now; it has not been for several years. There’s been substantial inflation, along with a substantial increase in interest rates, even more so on the commercial side than what we’ve seen on the residential side,” he said. “This has put the kibosh to a lot of things. That’s not something that anyone involved with commercial ventures doesn’t already know.”

McGuirk said the lack of attendance at last week’s meeting is nothing to get discouraged about.

“It’s a process,” he said. “It all comes down to getting the word out, getting people interested, and getting it known in those circles that we need to get it known in, that this is available. As things improve, we will have more [of an] opportunity to attract some people. Obviously, we’d like to see someone come along right now, but we’re aware that it’s a process.”

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.