Oct. 03–The recent wave of hotel development is good for Rochester and the community, though more should be added downtown to connect with the skyway system, saidBrad Jones of the Rochester Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“Of course, hotels are easiest to build on the outskirts of a city. It takes a little more time for downtown development,” Jones said.
Two developers plan to respectively build a 77-room Comfort Inn and Suites and a 109-room Staybridge Suites along West Circle Drive in front of Costco. Two other hotels — Homewood Suites on Second Street Southwest and La Quinta Inn and Suites in Shoppes on Maine — are already under construction. Homewood will have 108 rooms and La Quinta will have 83.
While Rochester is seeing activity in many spots, Jones predicts the hotel fever will spread to other areas like the new 65th Street Northwest interchange off of U.S. 52.
Wherever hotels are built, it’s obvious that more visitors will be need to “fill those beds with heads.” That’s why Jones is encouraging more local investment in convention venues like the Mayo Civic Center and sports arenas.
“Whenever we’ve invested in our venues, like the National Volleyball Center, we’ve seen rapid growth. As we reap the rewards of all of this growth, we need to think about the demand side and not just Mayo (Clinic). There has to be a diversified approach,” he says. “We’re trying to get on the front end of trying to fill these rooms before they are even built.
The four-story Comfort Inn and Suites is slated to be built southwest of Costco near the retention pond by Northridge Construction of Grand Forks, N.D.
“Our model is always to pursue long-term markets. Rochester and Sioux Falls, S.D., are two perfect examples of where we want to be,” says Ryan Carlson of Northridge. He valued the hotel at “upwards of $7 million.”
The project is still moving through the permit process. Depending on the weather, Carlson says he hopes construction will begin in November. He expects the hotel will be complete and open by summer 2014. It’ll be staffed by about 25 employees.
“It’s a great market and a great location,” he said. “We believe there is a lot development on the way for that area.”
Norm Leslie, the president of National Hospitality Services of Fargo, N.D., agrees with that.
He plans to build a four-story Staybridge Suites extended stay hotel in the same area. The 109-room hotel will be owned by Sterling Hospitality and managed by National Hospitality.
“We believe an extended-stay hotel makes a lot of sense based on what is happening today and the coming Mayo (Clinic) growth,” he said.
The hotel is designed for guests who will stay five nights or more. The rooms are equipped with full kitchens. Social gatherings such as cook-outs, breakfast buffets and evening cocktails are scheduled in the welcoming public areas.
“The concept of Staybridge is to make people feel like they are at home. It’s a different hotel experience,” said Leslie. Rochester previously had a Staybridge Suites on Second Street Southwest, but it changed to Aspen Suites earlier this year.
His hope is to break ground on the project in the next couple months. Leslie says it takes about 12 to 14 months to complete a Staybridge hotel of this size. His group has helped develop four other Staybridge hotels.
“We’re very selective where we build these,” he said.
