Developer: Hotel project will move forward

COEUR d’ALENE — Plans for a multimillion-dollar hotel alongside Coeur d’Alene’s busiest gateway are moving forward despite repeated delays spanning several years and a requirement by the city to obtain new building permits.

Developer Ron Ayers said he has secured demolition permits for several structures at the site of the former Garden Motel, 1808 Northwest Blvd., and the buildings could be razed as early as next month.

The latest plans call for a $14 million, 113-room Marriott Fairfield Inn. Ayers said the hotel could open as early as May 2020.

“I just came from a meeting with the construction lender and we are moving forward,” Ayers said Friday.

The developer said he incurred delays when the hotel giant updated prototypes for its international chain.

“Fairfield made some updates and changes and we wanted to capture the most recent prototypes,” Ayers said. “They gave us a choice with the old or new and we decided to go with the latest prototype. We just literally got approval from Marriott two weeks ago for our new plans.”

Before he can proceed with the project, however, Ayers must obtain a new building permit from the city, said Coeur d’Alene building official Ted Lantzy.

“He’ll need to start the process all over again,” Lantzy said. “When he originally applied we were under the 2012 building code. Now, he would need to meet new codes.”

Lantzy said Ayers first approached the city for a building permit in June 2016 and was granted at least three extensions as he sought to secure financing.

As originally proposed, Ayers’ project met the criteria for financing from the city’s urban renewal agency, ignite cda, which had agreed to fund up to $680,000 for project-related public improvements.

However, the ignite board in December decided to rescind the conditional Improvement Reimbursement Agreement if the developer failed to obtain a building permit by the end of the year.

Ignite executive director Tony Berns said Ayers’ proposed development is no longer a viable project in the eyes of the urban renewal agency.

“He’ll have to re-engage with the board,” Berns said.

Despite repeated setbacks, Ayers said he is confident the project will become a reality.

“It’s been a long time coming and it’s certainly had its challenges,” he said. “A project of this size is a huge undertaking and sometimes it takes a while, but we’re moving forward.”

Ayers bought the Garden Motel in 2002. The developer said he has grander plans for a mixed-use development at the site, across from the thriving Riverstone development, but is focusing on the construction of the hotel at this point.