98 Room Hotel planned for Central Entrance

A 98 room hotel complete with a pool is proposed for the corner of East Central Entrance and Blackman Avenue.

That's right, another hotel is planned for the city of Duluth bringing the count in the MIller Hill Mall area alone to four as La Quinta Inn and Suites, Hampton Inn and Suites, and Holiday Inn Express have already been proposed or are under construction.

The site in which the hotel is to be developed has been marketed for quite sometime now by CMRA, a local commercial real estate office. Originally it was cleared for a four story office project that was proposed in the mid 2000's. However, when that project didn't take off the site was re-marketed in hopes that another developer would pick it up but since then it has sat vacant.

Above: Site plan for the new 98 room hotel proposed for East Central Entrance

Located on one of the busiest roads in the city of Duluth it makes sense that a hotel might be developed here as its currently in a stretch where the are no hotel rooms whatsoever. While some will continue to shake their heads at the thought of another hotel being developed, we welcome the idea. After all, we are the tourist capital of our state. Well... unless we're counting Mall of America...but that's a whole other story.

The hotel is on the November 10th agenda for the Duluth Planning Commission. Little is known about the project being developed by Northridge Assets especially the brand in which the hotel will operate under. The developers do look to have plenty of experience developing hotels, specifically those under the "Sleep Inn" brand name.

Above: Aerial of the site pegged for development of a 98 room hotel.

What Brand?

The hotel does not have a brand according to the documents that are currently available to view regarding the project. However the design and size of the project suggest a few different options for hotel brands that could call the project home.

The first option is of course Sleep Inn and Suites as Northridge Assests has quite a bit of experience with them. However the design of the hotel and the room count don't necessarily match their typical prototype but that does not immediately exclude the company as an option.

The second option is a Courtyard by Marriott which would make sense as the nation's two other largest brands Intercontinental Hotel Group (Holiday) and Hilton (Hampton) are expanding in the area. It would be logical that Marriott also adds another hotel in response to the competition. Courtyard by Marriott is another extended hotel chain that is very similar to the company's Residence Inn prototype. Marriott opened a Residence Inn just down the road about five years ago.

The third option we believe could be a Staybridge Suites which is another hotel by Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG). These hotels are on an aggressive growth plan with 88 hotels in development and even more in the pipe works. This hotel concept also goes by the extended stay model and would be a great asset to the Twin Ports area as we currently only have one fully branded extended stay hotel (Residence Inn).

As always, check back to CDINDULUTH for the latest in news regarding this project and other developments within the Twin Ports.