And the growth trend is getting its start in east Vancouver, as more businesses continue to take root near the Columbia Tech Center and along 192nd Avenue.
“The hotel developments in east Vancouver mark Vancouver’s first new hotel construction projects since the 2008 recession and the first extensive hotel construction projects completed since 2009,” Schmidt said. “This growth continues to provide a steady influx in business travelers for both new and existing hotels in east Vancouver.”
With the recent addition of the 99-room Hampton Inn and Suites at Vancouver’s former Evergreen Airport site on Mill Plain Boulevard, Clark County currently has 2,698 hotel rooms, according to the latest Smith Travel Research report. The number will increase to about 2,986 next year once the Candlewood Inn and TownePlace Suites hotels open, Schmidt said.
The four-story Candlewood Suites will add more than 80 rooms to the market when it opens, said Dean Kirkland, who’s building the hotel with his business partner Tom Files, both of whom are with K & F Ventures & Holdings. The hotel is designed to match the design of the surrounding buildings in the new 192nd Avenue Plaza retail center, where a 9,000-square-foot commercial building is also under construction next to the hotel.
“We think the hotel will add value to the community in many ways for commerce,” Kirkland said. “It’ll be very opulent. It’ll be higher end.”
For Kirkland, the location of the new hotel on the east side of the city makes sense. It’ll serve a number of growing businesses in east Vancouver and Camas, such as Fisher Investments, he said.
“It’s the highest income area in Clark County, and easy access to get on (Highway) 14,” he said. “The growth has really gone to the east.”
Bringing new hotel brands to the local market tends to increase demand as more rooms become available for larger events, Schmidt said.
As construction continues, plans are also in the works to spruce up the Hilton, in downtown Vancouver, a roughly $3 million project that will coincide with its 10-year anniversary celebration. The project continues a trend of recent hotel renovations throughout the city, Schmidt said.
