(The full retrofit of this historic hotel took two years and a $7 million investment | Photo courtesy of SCP Hotel Redmond)
Admitting that “the City of Redmond had the New Redmond Hotel in its downtown redevelopment plans for close to a decade,” previous mayor George Endicott called the historic property’s revival by SCP “the cornerstone of that effort.”
SCP, which now has eight properties, had previously renovated its Colorado Springs outmoded but well-located 176-room hotel “as a “sandbox to try out some things and start building our brand,” according to Tobias Colvin, general manager of SCP Hotel Redmond. “But Redmond had the advantage of a full retrofit,” he said.
The two-year, $7 million project was made possible by a public-private partnership between the developer and the City of Redmond that, through its Redmond Urban Renewal Agency, provided a $3.53 million investment in the cornerstone project.
It involved “transforming an historic gem into a stylish, modern vision of the Central Oregon aesthetic and lifestyle,” in the words of SCP co-founder and CEO Ken Cruise, who said that without this “exceptional partnership, the project would not have been viable.”
From a business perspective, noted Colvin, SCP “didn’t want to buy high,” as would have been the case in the Bend market, and “saw the writing on the wall” in terms of Redmond’s future growth. This consideration is also integral to SCP’s expansion plans overall. “We’re always looking, but the overall market is currently very high, so we’re going to be picking and choosing with intentionality,” he said.
Going back to 2017, “when we began renovating the convalescing New Redmond Hotel, downtown Redmond was characterized by boarded-up windows, a ton of antique stores, and a tea shop with erratic hours,” said Colvin. “After 6 or 7pm, it became a ghost town, with nothing to bring people into the area.”
However, he said, “as soon as construction began, it spurred other investment and redevelopment projects as more and more businesses began locating downtown, a trend that continued as SCP Hotel Redmond has become established. In just the four years since we opened, downtown’s previous 60-70 percent occupancy rate has jumped to 90-95 percent — there’s a lot going on now.”
Colvin provided examples of other businesses that followed the hotel’s lead: Ida’s Cupcake Café, Diego’s Spirited Kitchen, various breweries and brew pubs (Wild Ride Brewing being one example), General Duffy’s Waterhole and Annex (a taphouse and live music venue with five on-site food trucks), Cascade Hasson Sotheby’s International Realty (which expanded into the historic Mayfair Theater/Atkinson Building on Sixth Street), food events, and a new co-working space.
Colvin — who moved from Atlanta with his wife after they both quit their jobs, traveled across the U.S. in an RV in search of a place to put down roots, and decided that Redmond was “exactly what we’re looking for” — said that “business is constant” at the SCP Hotel Redmond. “Our occupancy rate in 2022 was 83 percent, which is pretty awesome.”
