Hotel Company Wants Bremerton's Former City Hall
By Steven Gardner, sgardner@kitsapsun.com
February 7, 2006The owners of Hampton Inn in downtown Bremerton have had enough success that they want more.
Hotel Concepts Inc. of Seattle wants to buy the former Bremerton City Hall building and replace it with a 160-room hotel and extended-stay apartment complex.
The Bremerton City Council will consider Wednesday a purchase and sale agreement to sell the site on Fourth Street and Washington Avenue for $930,000.
"We think that Bremerton will be growing with the condos and conference center," said Han Kim, managing partner for Hotel Concepts. He believes the new complex would help create more business for the Kitsap Conference Center. "The city says sometimes it can't book the conference center because the Hampton is full."
The building was home to City Hall and still houses the Bremerton Police Department and the municipal court.
City Councilman Brad Gehring said the police will likely move to the Kitsap Credit Union building on Burwell Street and the city is negotiating a site for the courts near the new fire station on Park Avenue.
"Our objective is to get everybody into their new homes this year," Gehring said. "It's going to be a tall order to fill, but I think we can get it done."
Hotel Concepts' initial plans call for 120 regular hotel rooms with refrigerators and microwaves and 40 spaces with full kitchens and two bedrooms. The hotel might have a restaurant, Kim said.
It will have a swimming pool, a pantry and underground parking for between 120 and 140 cars.
The company has not decided which hotel chain will be the nameplate for the new facility, though Kim said it won't be a second Hampton.
Hotel Concepts chose Hampton over Marriott Fairfield for the $20 million waterfront hotel while it was still under construction. The Hampton was the first new hotel in Bremerton in 20 years when it was built in 2004.
Kim said the Hampton's occupancy rate has exceeded his company's expectations and believes there's a demand for more hotel rooms in Bremerton.
Gary Sexton, Bremerton's redevelopment projects administrator, said the new hotel is further confirmation of the changes downtown. He also agreed that the sale is significant because it's an outside investor coming back for more. "This is just another indicator of our future growth," he said.
The $930,000 purchase price is based on an appraisal of the property, Sexton said.
The agreement calls for Hotel Concepts to deliver $50,000 in earnest money, with the rest coming by the end of January 2007.
Conditions for the sale include Hotel Concepts approving the title report, the city approving site plans within four months, the city abandoning part of the alley and the company paying for utility relocation in the alley.