June 29–YAKIMA, Wash. — Three hotels now under construction will bring a total of nearly 250 new rooms to the Yakima area.
Developers of the hotels are planning lodging for a variety of customers, ranging from families here for soccer tournaments at the Sozo Sports complex to workers on short-term employment stints in the Yakima Valley.
Among the hotels opening in the next few months is the Holiday Inn Express in Union Gap. Richland-based Allpro purchased property just east of the corner of Longfibre and Ahtanum roads for the new hotel last year.
The 76-room hotel is now in the final stages of construction, which is expected to be completed next month, said Allpro managing partner Dave Stapleton.
Delays, however, are still a possibility at this stage and that would affect an opening date.
Stapleton said he expects the hotel to open no later than Aug. 21, but possibly as early as Aug. 8.
Another hotel that could open in August is My Place, a 64-room, three-story extended stay hotel near Sarg Hubbard Park.
There's not yet a specific opening date for the facility at 21 S. 18th St., said Parminder Thind, who co-owns the hotel with wife Maninder Kaur. The hotel has been under construction for more than a year.
Once open, My Place will have three locations in Washington state.
The opening of the My Place hotel will be the last for an extended-stay hotel for some time. The Yakima City Council voted last week to place a six-month moratorium for such developments so the city can better define hotels and motels in its code.
The moratorium also prevents hotels from being converted to "congregate living facilities," such as dorms, housing for older residents and facilities for guest farm workers. Recently, Valicoff Fruit converted the former FairBridge Inn and Suites at 1507 N. First St. into housing for seasonal farm workers.
Rounding out the new hotels is Home2 Suites Yakima Airport, a Hilton-brand hotel under construction at 2420 W. Nob Hill Blvd.
The hotel is still expected to open sometime next spring, according to an emailed statement Tuesday from Hogback Hotel Group NW, a subsidiary of Hogback Development, a Yakima firm.
Hogback Development officials had considered several possible uses for the property, which once housed a Montgomery Ward department store. Ultimately, Hogback saw a need for additional lodging options, especially ones close to the Yakima Air Terminal and the Sozo Sports complex.
The hotel will have 107 studios and one-bedroom suites with kitchenettes. The hotel is designed to accommodate both leisure travelers and business travelers needing a longer stay.
Along with the new hotels under construction, there will be changes coming to two Yakima hotels:
–Allpro will change its Holiday Inn Express in Yakima this fall. The hotel at 1001 E. Staff Sgt. Pendleton Way will become a Red Roof Inn, Stapleton said. The switch will occur shortly after the new Holiday Inn Express opens in Union Gap.
–Renovation for the Holiday Inn, 802 E. Yakima Ave., is expected to start in early fall or late winter this year, said Richard Song, who purchased the hotel from Allpro earlier this year. Song aims to complete the first renovation phase, which will focus on guest rooms, by next spring. He then will start renovation work to the hotel's public areas in the fall of 2019. That timeline, however, depends on the availability of construction workers, he said.
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