The Wine Institute estimates that nearly 24 million people visit the 4,653 wineries in California’s wine regions each year. That tourism's economic impact in the state, which last year totaled $57.6 billion, includes a robust hospitality and lodging market. While construction slowed a bit last year, there were 26 hotels with 2,204 rooms in the planning stages for northern California’s vineyard-rich Sonoma County, and 13 hotels with 1,621 rooms being planned for Napa Valley, according Atlas Hospitality Group’s 2016 California Hotel Development Survey.
Earlier this month, construction began on one of those establishments, the $24 million, 122-key Hotel Trio in Healdsburg, Calif., which CU Investors, its developer, expects to open next April.
The 82,638-sf hotel, situated in the Sonoma wine country, will serve the Dry Creek, Russian River, and Alexander Valley areas (hence, the “trio”). It will be within walking distance of a host of wineries and have convenient access to hundreds more within a 30-mile radius of the site.
The hotel will include 13 one-bedrooms and 109 studios, and primarily will target individuals and couples who are staying over for a few nights, says Bill Wilhelm, president of R.D. Olson Construction, the GC on this project, who spoke with BD+C earlier this week.
“The hotel will bring a much-needed, cost-effective option to the area for visitors who are looking for a high-end experience in a prime location,” said Matt Grubb, Olson’s Vice President of Construction, in a prepared statement.
Hotel Trio’s amenities will include a bar, meeting room, outdoor pool, barbecue area, lounge, fully equipped fitness center, and multiple outdoor patios with fireplaces. There will be on-premises wine tasting events, and Wilhelm expects the hotel to eventually tie into some of the local vineyards.
The facility will offer guests on-site bicycle rentals, as biking is a very popular transportation mode for touring wine country. (Wilhelm says Olson has incorporated bike-rental services in several of its newer hotels, including one that it’s completing near Los Angeles International Airport.)
Axis/GFA Architecture + Design is the designer of Hotel Trio, which Wilhelm says draws some of its design features—such as its Craftsman-style exterior, clerestory windows, and trellises—from characteristics of the Alexander Valley.
The rest of the Building Team includes ZFA Structural Engineers, CSW/Stuber-Stroeh Engineering Group, and Tuan and Robinson Engineering.
Wilhelm says this project encompasses a 37-unit apartment building under construction on the same parcel as the hotel. Some of those apartments will be workforce housing that’s priced affordably based on the market’s requirements. This building’s design will match the hotel’s, and it will open around the same time.
Despite local impediments such as finding subs and managing costs, Olson, says Wilhelm, currently has two other hotel deals in the works for Napa Valley, each in its “conceptual” stage.
Related Stories
| Jan 25, 2011
InterContinental Hotels Group gets LEED pre-certification
InterContinental Hotels Group, the world's largest hotel group by number of rooms, announced that its in-house sustainability system Green Engage has been awarded LEED volume pre-certification established from the USGBC and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute. IHG is the first hotel company to receive this award for an existing hotels program.
| Jan 19, 2011
San Diego casino renovations upgrade gaming and entertainment
The Sycuan Casino in San Diego will get an update with a $27 million, 245,000-sf renovation. Hnedak Bobo Group, Memphis, Tenn., and Cleo Design, Las Vegas, drew design inspiration from the historic culture of the Sycuan tribe and the desert landscape, creating a more open space with better circulation. Renovation highlights include a new “waterless” water entry feature and new sports bar and grill, plus updates to gaming, poker, off-track-betting, retail, and bingo areas. The local office of San Francisco-based Swinerton Builders will provide construction services.
| Jan 19, 2011
Extended stay hotel aims to provide comfort of home
Housing development company Campus Apartments broke ground on a new extended stay hotel that will serve the medical and academic facilities in Philadelphia’s University City, including the University of Pennsylvania and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The 11,000-sf hotel will operate under Hilton’s Homewood Suites brand, with 136 suites with full kitchens and dining and work areas. A part of the city’s EnergyWorks loan program, the project aims for LEED with a green roof, low-flow fixtures, and onsite stormwater management. Local firms Alesker & Dundon Architects and GC L.F. Driscoll Co. complete the Building Team.
| Jan 4, 2011
Luxury hotel planned for Palace of Versailles
Want to spend the night at the Palace of Versailles? The Hotel du Grand Controle, a 1680s mansion built on palace grounds for the king's treasurer and vacant since the French Revolution, will soon be turned into a luxury hotel. Versailles is partnering with Belgian hotel company Ivy International to restore the dilapidated estate into a 23-room luxury hotel. Guests can live like a king or queen for a while—and keep their heads.
| Jan 4, 2011
Grubb & Ellis predicts commercial real estate recovery
Grubb & Ellis Company, a leading real estate services and investment firm, released its 2011 Real Estate Forecast, which foresees the start of a slow recovery in the leasing market for all property types in the coming year.
| Dec 17, 2010
Historic Rhode Island hotel reborn with modern amenities
The iconic Ocean House resort in Watch Hill, R.I., had to be torn down in 2005 when systemic deficiencies made restoration unfeasible. Centerbrook Architects and Planners, Centerbrook, Conn., designed a new version of the hotel, working with preservation societies to save or recreate favorite elements of the original building, and incorporating them into the contemporary structure. The new resort has 49 guest rooms and 23 residences, plus banquet halls, a corporate boardroom, a private clubroom, a spa and fitness center, an indoor lap pool, a bar, and the obligatory international croquet court. Dimeo Construction, Providence, R.I., was the construction manager.
| Dec 17, 2010
Gemstone-inspired design earns India’s first LEED Gold for a hotel
The Park Hotel Hyderabad in Hyderabad, India, was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill to combine inspirations from the region’s jewelry-making traditions with sustainable elements.
| Dec 17, 2010
Vietnam business center will combine office and residential space
The 300,000-sm VietinBank Business Center in Hanoi, Vietnam, designed by Foster + Partners, will have two commercial towers: the first, a 68-story, 362-meter office tower for the international headquarters of VietinBank; the second, a five-star hotel, spa, and serviced apartments. A seven-story podium with conference facilities, retail space, restaurants, and rooftop garden will connect the two towers. Eco-friendly features include using recycled heat from the center’s power plant to provide hot water, and installing water features and plants to improve indoor air quality. Turner Construction Co. is the general contractor.
| Dec 2, 2010
GKV Architects wins best guest room design award for Park Hyatt Istanbul
Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel, Architects, PC won the prestigious Gold Key Award for Excellence in Hospitality Design for best guest room, Park Hyatt Macka Palas, Istanbul, Turkey. Park Hyatt Maçka Palace marries historic and exotic elements with modern and luxurious, creating a unique space perpetuating Istanbul’s current culture. In addition to the façade restoration, GKV Architects designed 85 guestrooms, five penthouse suites, an ultra-hip rooftop bar, and a first-of-its-kind for Istanbul – a steakhouse, for the luxury hotel.
| Nov 16, 2010
CityCenter’s new Harmon Hotel targeted for demolition
MGM Resorts officials want to demolish the unopened 27-story Harmon Hotel—one of the main components of its brand new $8.5 billion CityCenter development in Las Vegas. In 2008, inspectors found structural work on the Harmon didn’t match building plans submitted to the county, with construction issues focused on improperly placed steel reinforcing bar. In January 2009, MGM scrapped the building’s 200 condo units on the upper floors and stopped the tower at 27 stories, focusing on the Harmon having just 400 hotel rooms. With the Lord Norman Foster-designed building mired in litigation, construction has since been halted on the interior, and the blue-glass tower is essentially a 27-story empty shell.