Nov. 28–YAKIMA — The Red Lion Yakima Center is among a half-dozen hotels for sale by its parent company.

Spokane-based Red Lion Hotel Corp. has put the 156-room hotel at 607 E. Yakima Ave., along with locations in Kennewick, Wenatchee, Kelso, Twin Falls, Idaho, and Pocatello, Idaho, up for sale as part of the company’s growth strategy.

Proceeds from the sale of hotels will be used to pay down debt, fund upgrades of remaining hotels and support expansion in major Western U.S. city centers, such as San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle and Portland, through franchising.

The hotels, which will be brokered by Chris Burdett of CBRE Hotels, will continue to operate under the Red Lion brand until they are sold.

The hotels up for sale, for the most part, are ones that need considerable capital investment, said Julie Shiflett, chief financial officer for Red Lion Hotel Corp.

“If a new owner purchases the hotel and wants to make that type of investment, we would be interested in keeping the hotel as a Red Lion franchise,” she said.