July 23, 2012--Hotel construction activity is expected to pick up soon in north Bellingham.

Last week a building permit was issued for Marriott's Springhill Suites project at 4040 Northwest Ave., near the West Bakerview Road intersection. This phase of the project will have 122 rooms and underground parking. The general contractor on this $12.3 million project is Vandervert Construction of Spokane, and the owner is 360 Hotel Group, based in Lynnwood.

Originally the second phase called for 83 more rooms; it is not clear whether that's still the case. Officials working on the project could not be reached to get details about the second phase or how long the first phase is expected to take.

One other major hotel project in that area, the La Quinta Inn at 1063 W. Bakerview Road, is expected to get re-started soon, said Dale Sweeney, an architect involved with the project.

Construction began last year but stopped last winter after the framing was built because of a financial problem with the project. He said the financing issues are just about resolved.

Sweeney said that the framing work was recently inspected and held up well during the delay. He said not much will need to be done before moving forward with construction.

Reach DAVE GALLAGHER at [email protected] or call 715-2269.

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