LENOX — The long-vacant Lenox Inn, a rundown, 18-room motel on Pittsfield Road, is the proposed site of a new gas station/convenience store with a drive-thru Dunkin' cafe.

The property, built in 1952 as the Criterion Motel and renamed the Lenox Motel in the 1970s before rebranding as the Lenox Inn, would be demolished, according to an application filed with the Lenox Zoning Board of Appeals.

The ZBA is tentatively scheduled to review the application at a public hearing at 7 p.m. June 3 in Lenox Town Hall.

Because the site straddles the Lenox and Pittsfield boundary line, parallel permits are being filed at Pittsfield City Hall, according to the application.

The proposed 4,500-square-foot development “represents an improvement to an underutilized site at a prominent gateway location, replacing a deteriorating motel with an active commercial use that serves the traveling public along a major state highway corridor,” the application states.

“The project maintains more than 40,000 square feet of undisturbed land at the rear of the property in its natural condition.”

Replacing the outdated motel, closed since 2020, with “an active fueling and convenience use better serves community and visitor needs and contributes to the vitality of the commercial corridor,” the application states.

“The replacement of an underutilized and deteriorating motel with a new commercial facility is expected to increase the assessed value of the property and the corresponding tax contribution to the town.”

The application also asserts that the proposed project aligns with the town’s master plan because it maintains existing development levels within the existing footprint, upgrades site infrastructure through new stormwater management, and replaces an unused motel with “an active commercial use that contributes to the vitality of the corridor.”

The application for a special permit and site plan review was filed by PVI Site Design of Norwood on behalf of Northern Management Group in Dedham, operator of 24 Dunkin' shops, mostly in the Metro West area of eastern Massachusetts.

PVI Site Design also states that “the project’s location at the edge of town along the major connector roadway minimizes any impact on the town’s small-town character.”

The 1.7-acre property opposite the Haddad Toyota dealership, adjacent to the new Starbucks and Jiffy Lube, was acquired by 525 Pittsfield Lenox LLC in November 2021. According to filings at the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s office, the registered agent and manager is Nikul Dilip Patel of Lexington. Also listed as managers are Jigar Patel and Nilesh Patel, both listed among the partners of Northern Management Group. Patel family members also own Jamsan Management in Lexington.

The applicant also seeks approvals from the Lenox Conservation Commission, the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act because of bordering vegetated wetlands behind the property, and from MassDOT for direct access and utility connection permits.

If approved, it would be the fourth Dunkin' in the area; others in Pittsfield are on First Street, West Housatonic Street and East Street, under different ownerships.