(Photo above: SpringHill Suites by Marriott | Photo by Cascade Business News)
106-Room SpringHill Suites Design Reflects Historic Lumber Site Influence
The doors are open to the newest option in Bend’s expanding hospitality scene with the launch of the 106-room SpringHill Suites by Marriott in the Old Mill District, on the site of the former Brooks-Scanlon lumber company’s Crane Shed building on Industrial Way.
The 77,000 square foot custom designed hotel, developed by Montana-based Braxton Development, features Deschutes River views and includes a fitness center, indoor pool and spa and over 2,000 square feet of meeting space along with a full bar and outdoor patio, which will be open nightly.
SpringHill Suites is a brand of the Marriott International family of hotels “aimed towards the upper-moderate-priced, all-suite lodging segment of the industry” and operators hope to capitalize on the desirability of a destination location in close proximity to amenities of the Old Mill and Downtown areas.
Braxton Development co-principal Jonathan Braxton said, “We identified this area as a target market underserved for this type of niche. We like Bend a lot as a growing and solid market with good occupancy levels and saw this as an ideal location when the site opportunity came up.
“The town is a great match for this leisure-oriented flag and we went the extra mile to give the interior and exterior finishes a feel of the North West in general, and Bend in particular, all the way down to custom artwork.
“We had a great team involved in the project — we have a successful collaborative track record with general contractor Key Construction and architectural firm The Richardson Design Partnership (TRDP) — and this is the only totally customized hotel of the SpringHill Suites brand other than one in Bozeman, Montana.
“We believe in holding properties for the long-term and want to do projects like this the right way. We really wanted to make sure this project fit the Bend area, as well as fulfilling a market need.”
Braxton added there was an emphasis on hiring local talent both in terms of subcontractors for the construction project and for operational staff for the hotel, which is being managed through third party management company InnVentures, Inc.
Braxton revealed that his group already had another hospitality project in the pipeline for Bend, with groundbreaking anticipated this summer for a nearby 87,000 square foot, 105-room Marriott Residence Inn on a 2.2 acre site at 500 SW Bond St., across from SW Upper Terrace, aiming to fill a demand for an upper scale extended stay hotel and featuring a kitchenette in every room for longer-term visits.
Braxton said, “We are active in select markets across the country but particularly like the Pacific Northwest. We are a relatively smaller company looking for the right deals, including being about to start a second hotel in Hillsboro – a Candlewood Suites close to the Intel and Nike headquarters – and we want to continue to do business involving select projects across the region.”
Springhill Suites Bend General Manager Raul Ainardi, who has over 18 years experience in hotel management, said the Old Mill location offers separate living, working and sleeping spaces available for guests, and the property’s food & beverage options include local craft beer and premium wines available through the hotel’s full-service bar — one of the few within the chain — and bistro or the “24/7 Market.”
The property has two meeting rooms with 2,048 square feet of space to accommodate meetings and functions of up to 130 people and catering of events, with other amenities including business services, complimentary WiFi, same-day dry cleaning, guest laundry facilities, indoor swimming pool and fitness center.
Project Architect Robert Hanson of Utah-based TRDP, said, “This is not the standard SpringHill Suites hotel property as it has been customized for the local vernacular and to fit within the Old Mill District.
“I would say it is contemporary in style but with a historic look, picking up references from the former mill and railroad buildings that were originally on the site.
“There is a historic placard embedded in one of the old foundations in a corner pier and the interior design of spaces also pulled cues and influences from the warehouse factory aesthetic, with wood and stone textures and including a lot of dark steel and brick finishes.
“We worked with the developers in wanting to take historic influences and bring them into the broader interpretation of a contemporary style and I think this project benefitted from the full custom design approach in paying attention to blending with the environment.”
Project Manager Bryce Thompson added, “We have done a number of hospitality projects in association with Braxton and hotels are unique in being some of the most difficult projects we do – if you make one mistake it can be magnified a hundred times and there is a lot of square footage to cover with detailed work.
“We try to hire local wherever possible and I am proud to say we used a lot of local subcontractors on this project and benefitted from their expertise, including local knowledge in coordinating landscaping fitting for the environment.
“The design and finishes aimed to tie in to Oregon, and Bend in particular. Bend is my favorite town in America and I really enjoyed the project, though it was certainly challenging to work through recent winter weather conditions which were apparently the toughest here for a number of years – I’ve never had to pay someone to haul snow off a site before!”
After completion of the project, which broke ground in January last year, Callette Nielsen, vice president and global brand manager for SpringHill Suites, said, “As a brand opening a new hotel every ten days on average, we are delighted that the SpringHill Suites Bend is the latest addition to our growing number of properties across the United States and Canada.
“Our all-suite offering and convenient amenities offer guests a little extra to help them enjoy their stay. Whether traveling for business or pleasure, we understand that guests want to connect to the local area.
“We make it our business to help them do that by offering our local expertise, and bringing the community into the hotel through our 24/7 market, bar with local craft beer and at our local art events.”
Featuring more spacious accommodations than the average room, and complimentary breakfast, she said every aspect of design, from furniture and lighting, to colors and fabrics, had been carefully selected “to offer calm and refreshing spaces to allow guests to relax and recharge.” The hotel lobby features a brand new design “that adds depth and sophistication to the décor” and a conducive setting for informal meetings or socializing.
The new hotel sits on the easterly portion of an original 4.3 acre parcel which was the subject of controversy and stalled development efforts after the turn of the millennium.
The site once housed the eponymous distinctive red-painted crane shed building which accommodated towering equipment used to stack millions of board feet of lumber during the area’s sawmill heyday, until the timber market downturn in the latter part of the 20th Century.
In the late 1990s it housed a beverage distribution company until being sold to a local group who provoked widespread outrage in 2004 after tearing the building down without a permit, under cover of night, for which they were
subsequently sued.
As the real estate market sizzled, the property was sold to developers the Trono Group for some $5 million in 2005 and ambitious plans were put forward for a multi-story mixed-use project dubbed The Mercato set to feature retail, restaurant, office and condo space.
But the tailwinds of the recession derailed the venture, eventually leading to lender foreclosure proceeding after which a local investor purchased the property for $1.42 million in 2011.
The site had a historic designation related to the former building’s ties to Bend’s industrial roots, and the new developers have incorporated commemoration of the historical lumber mill connection.
The balance of the original Crane Shed site spanning approximately two acres is undergoing construction of a Class A, 50,000 square foot four-story commercial office building geared towards the tech sector and to be anchored by primary tenant Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Bend studio.
The imposing building flanking the new SpringHill Suites features upper floor mountain views and overlooks the bustling Old Mill District mixed use area and the Deschutes River.
SpringHill Suites by Marriott is an all-suite hotel brand that offers guests a fresh take on mixing business and pleasure. Recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Top 10 Franchises to buy in 2016, the portfolio consists of more than 350 properties across the United States and Canada. The suites are spacious and feature a modern, stylish design that “allows guests to be productive and unwind”.
SpringHill participates in the industry’s award-winning loyalty program, Marriott Rewards which includes The Ritz-Carlton Rewards. Members can now link accounts with Starwood Preferred Guest at members.marriott.com for instant elite status matching and unlimited points transfer.
Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) is based in Bethesda, Maryland, USA, and encompasses a portfolio of more than 6,000 properties in 30 leading hotel brands spanning 122 countries and territories. Marriott operates and franchises hotels and licenses vacation ownership resorts.
SpringHill Suites
551 SW Industrial Way, Bend • 541-382-5075
www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/rdmsh-springhill-suites-bend
Property Owner/Developer: Braxton Development, LLC
Mangement: InnVentures, Inc.
Contractor: Key Construction
Project Cost: Not Disclosed
Square Footage: 77,093
Financing: Private
Project Manager: Bryce Thompson
Architect: Robert Hanson, Richardson Design Partnership
Structural Engineer: Hicks Engineering
Civil Engineer: HWA Engineers (local firm)
Mechanical Engineer: Engineering Systems Solutions
Subcontractors and Suppliers
Site Work & Utilities — Alex Hodge Construction — (local),
Concrete — JUCC — (local), Masonry — G&K Masonry — (local),
Steel — True Line Steel — (local), Insulation — Energy Conservation
Insulation — (local), Roofing — AM—1 Roofing — (local), Storefront
— Alpine Glass — (local), Millwork — LJ Pearson — (local), Drywall —
Harver Company — (local), Fire Sprinkler — Absolute Fire — (local),
Plumbing — Oregon Cascade — (local), HVAC — Cascade
Heating — (local), Electrical — Crawford Electrical — (local),
Landscape — Millsite Landscape — (local), Exterior Insulation Finish
System — Whitestar — (local), Site Concrete — Van Nevel
Concrete — (local), Asphalt Paving — 7 Peaks Paving — (local)
