UPDATE | OCTOBER 20, 2015
No more mystery. A big chain hotel name is confirmed- one will be calling the Snoqualmie Valley, specifically North Bend, home in about a year and a half.
City of North Bend Community and Economic Development Director, Gina Estep, confirmed a new hotel to be constructed at the corner of Bendigo Blvd and South Fork Ave will be owned by Mariott. Estep said that building plans submitted to the city last week were for a Marriott Fairfield Inn and Suites.
There are over 700 Fairfield Inns located in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Rooms include free WiFi and breakfast. The North Bend location will have four stories and 99 rooms. It is scheduled to open in Spring 2017.
More details are included in the earlier story the follows below.
Original Story, September 29, 2015
In August 2014 site work began at the corner of Bendigo Blvd and South Fork Ave in North Bend for a future hotel under the permitting name ‘New Sky Hotels.’ The big mystery since then has been what hotel?
Well, it seems the City of North Bend still isn’t quite ready to reveal what hotel chain will soon call the Snoqualmie Valley home, but North Bend Public Works Director Mark Rigos is giving some hints.
According to Rigos it will be a “really nice” hotel – one that fills a sweet spot in the North Bend/Snoqualmie area, where hotel choices are limited to the pricey Salish Lodge and Spa and older motels along North Bend Way.
Rigos described the new hotel as “nicer than a Holiday Inn” – somewhere people would want to stay AND more can afford to stay. He said the hotel deal is about “99% inked” and within a couple of weeks the City of North Bend should be able to announce what hotel will be opening in spring of 2017.
But for now the developer is still asking that the name not be announced.
We do know the hotel will be a four-story building with 99 rooms. The building’s shell will be constructed between May 2016 – October 2016, with the interior work happening during the winter of 2016/17.
Since August 2014, work at the 8.5 acre site (which is nearing completion) has included excavation, installation of storm drainage collection and conveyance systems and paving of the parking lot.
A second building is also possible on the site, but the timeframe for its construction (and what it will be) is still unknown.
In 2013 during the public hearing process for the project, phase II was described as “duplicating the building plans for phase I, but if phase I satisfies the market demand, the developer may revise the use of the structure planed for phase II from a hotel to a mixed-use building that could include things like office and retail space, residential units.”
Comments
and.. “they paved paradise and put up a parking lot” the price of progress eh? all for a room to stay in.. stay home!
So “paradise” to you was the homeless camp in the woods that this project is replacing? Maybe they can move to your yard.
For some the writing was on the wall when the “golden arches” were raised.
Stop complaining – we need places to stay other than the Salish for people if we want to boost our economy and support our local businesses. If nobody else was going to do it, somebody found a good opportunity.
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I too wonder how something like this can be “top secret” to the city’s taxpayers. Looks like the city planner(s) are forgetting who their employers are. Maybe they need to sign up for Transparency 101.
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Exactly…stop complaining…better yet…move. This is a very big deal for the City of North Bend. Local business all over the valley have needed a nice place for clients and customers to stay. The Salish does not fit that need at the prices they charge. This is a perfect upper end place to stay and will bring a lot of revenue to the city and much needed prestige. They have one in Bellevue where rooms start at $169 a night and it is rated 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Mysteries can be really fun….but I guess I don’t understand how and why the City gets to withhold key information it has about such a huge deal in town…or any deal in town that is subject to permitting, for that matter. I have to ask what would be the prevailing need for confidentiality and withholding the information from the public?
This is a very important thing for the Valley. As a host of five local running events (for which I and asked every time if there is a local place to stay for people participating in the races from out of town) I am glad to see a solution for those not wanting to spend 200-300 dollars a night at the Salish. This is also a big win for residents in the valley who have family come into town but don’t have room to host them in their homes.
I will repeat what I have said many times….people are perfectly fine cutting down trees and laying pavement for their home to be built, but as soon as someone else’s home (or business) is built, all of the sudden they want to protect spotted owls from the evils of urbanization.
I have wanted to visit North Bend for the Twin Peaks Festival for many years and it’s nice to know that when i finally do make it there I will have somewhere reasonably priced and nice to stay in and is in the actual town.
the accommodation options available till now has always been a huge concern.
This is great news. We desperately needed a nice place for guests and travelers to stay. There are many reasons that the name isn’t being revealed, and I doubt the city council has a secret agenda or other motivation. More than likely the deal just isn’t 100% done and it’s common practice to not commit until all aspects of the deal are signed and done.
When is the new hotel supposed to be built? Have they broke ground yet? Very exciting. Is it going to be by the mall.
Thanks