by D. Ashley Furness - Business Journal Staff Reporter
Jun 22, 2009
SUISUN CITY – Basin Street Properties will soon open the latest property in its budding hospitality portfolio, a $13 million Hampton Inn & Suites in Suisun City. The hotel will be the first to open in the area in several decades and is the “linchpin” in the waterfront community’s $60 million, 20-year revitalization effort.
“The work in the waterfront district began as a redevelopment project in 1989 and the effort at that point was to take what had been a run down, crime-ridden, industrial waterfront area and turn it into a public focal point and economic engine for the community,” said Suisun City spokesman Scott Corey.
“The vision for that area included a hotel from the very beginning; in fact it is a key linchpin in the project, so we are extremely excited to have it here. It is a terrific benchmark in the progress we are trying to make.”
The Hampton Inn will be the second hotel project developed by Basin Street’s growing hospitality subsidiary after the opening of the 116-room Hampton in Windsor last fall. The division was created about two years ago through a merger with the Sonoma Mountain Group that already managed the Sheraton in Petaluma and a Holiday Inn Express in Corning. Plans to open a Marriott in Reno and other new hotels are currently in the works.
The Solano County hotel will total about 63,000 square feet and 102 suites, varying in size and capacity. The four-story structure will also house about 4,000 square feet of meeting space, and management company RIM Hospitality is accepting group reservations for November, though it could open by the end of summer.
“We were very aware of the redevelopment going on in Suisun and thought it was a really unique site for a lot of reasons,” said Basin Street Hospitality Managing Partner and former Sonoma Mountain President Tom Birdsall.
“It’s a waterfront property with access to walking trails, nice restaurants,” Mr. Birdsall, noting it was a short drive to “Napa and close to San Francisco and Sacramento.”
The city has already completed much of the area’s redevelopment, opening waterline walking trails; organizing more than 40 outdoor, free community events; and constructing a 150-slip marina and seawall. At the same time, developers looked to transform the area’s business climate from manufacturing and industrial space to more small businesses. The area is now home to 12 family-owned eateries.
Officials also signed a deal with Main Street West Partners in 2005 to develop two mixed-use buildings called Harbor Square and a waterside restaurant. The first 40,000-square-foot, two-story building will open at the end of June with a new restaurant and upscale entertainment venue. The site also includes a central, open-air courtyard with a large community fireplace.
Main Street West plans to eventually develop a total of 16 parcels in the area, including a residential component, but those will likely wait for the financing environment to improve.
