Dec. 10–The Healdsburg Planning Commission has given the green light to construction of a 39-room, boutique hotel downtown.
The four-story, H3 Guesthouse, proposed south of the Healdsburg Plaza, was approved by the commission Tuesday night.
“The hotel that they presented is very nicely done,” Planning Commission Vice Chairman Jerry Eddinger said Wednesday. “Everybody liked the design.”
Construction is anticipated to begin in May and last 18 months, concluding by late 2016.
There should be no shortage of guests for the new hotel. A 2014 study commissioned by the city found Healdsburg is such a desirable place to visit that it could more than double the number of existing hotel rooms to meet market demand.
There was no controversy surrounding the $16 million project, unlike a five-story, 75-room downtown hotel proposed by a Florida-based company in 2013. That project never got off the ground after being criticized for being out of scale and not having adequate parking.
But the developers of H3 Guesthouse made sure more than a year ago to reach out to the community and potential opponents to explain the details of their project.
By the time it reached the commission, most of the discussion centered on hours and conditions for construction to minimize the noise and dust for neighbors.
“It’s exciting,” said Circe Sher, a partner in Piazza Hospitality Group, the development and management company behind the new hotel. “We had a lot of local people come out in support of the project.”
Her group also developed and managed the larger Hotel Healdsburg, as well as the h2 hotel.
The new hotel is proposed on a gravel parking lot, a site which over the years went from orchard to blacksmith and wagon shop to gas station to used car lot, according to an environmental report. Since 1966, the site has been unimproved and is now used as a parking lot for about two dozen vehicles for nearby h2 guests and employees.
The H3 Guesthouse will have more parking than required, offering 50 spaces on the ground floor, mostly provided by a lift system where vehicles are stacked three high and two deep.
The developers also agreed not to charge for the hotel parking in response to concerns that were raised about the likelihood that some guests would avoid paying and instead park on nearby streets.
Initially developers proposed 43 rooms, but after meetings with some groups, including Healdsburg Citizens for Sustainable Solutions, agreed to reduce the number of rooms to 39.
Sher said the citizens group, which has opposed large hotel projects, wanted to trim the number down even further to 36 rooms.
“Hearing their feedback is part of what influenced our decision. We really did what worked for us,” she said.
Sher said four of the initially planned guest rooms were eliminated to make way for a 1,500-square-foot meeting space that will accommodate breakfast service.
No restaurant is planned, but there will be an outside pool on the grounds, a small, private creekside park for guests and an indoor-outdoor rooftop lounge.
Daily rates will run from $195 to as much as $399 on high season weekends, Sher said Wednesday.
You can reach Staff Writer Clark Mason at 521-5214 or clark.mason@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @clarkmas.
