HOOD RIVER — Developers and designers hosted a community meeting on March 19 to answer questions and present renderings for a four-story hotel that is being proposed on the 1.46 acre lot of the former Hood River News building on State Street. Site plans have not been submitted, and developers said the community meeting was step one towards a site plan review.
About 25 residents gathered in a conference room to question site plans for a Marriott Hotel. Eric Hansen and Johnathan Kland, principal architects from Line29 Architecture, brought preliminary designs for the approximately 130-room hotel, restaurant and bar. Gabe Duus is the prospective developer and answered questions related to the building’s height, code requirements and more. Duus has completed other projects in Hood River and The Dalles.
Proposals would include tearing down the existing building and constructing a brick hotel to emulate other historic buildings in downtown Hood River. Staff said that the renderings meet code requirements put forth by the city. Residents in attendance focused on the building’s height, economic impact and code regulations and voiced their concerns.
Developers acknowledged that the building could impact property value along Sherman Avenue.
Ann Marie Jelderks has lived on Sherman for 30 years and didn’t see any benefits to the new hotel. She and other Sherman residents were concerned the hotel could negatively affect parking conditions on Sherman and State Street. She said many downtown workers already use Sherman to park during the day.
Duus said he didn’t know if employees will park on Sherman, but they should park in the parking lot. He added that nothing is finalized, but they anticipate 130-140 parking spaces on the property.
Other residents questioned the stormwater drainage, emergency response and the hotel’s close proximity to the Riverside Church, which is reportedly undergoing their own capital improvements. When asked if the hotel would compromise Riverside’s foundation, Duus said they have “built lots of buildings next to big buildings before,” and that the engineers would take the church into careful consideration.
The site proposal is just outside the Downtown Historic District boundary and zoned Commerical-2. Residential housing such as condominiums or mixed-use housing “doesn’t pencil in,” said Duus.
Hansen said the renderings displayed at the meeting were conceptual and are guaranteed to change upon the city’s review.
Duus and Hansen said if plans are approved they aim to begin construction in the summer of 2026 and expect it to take 14-16 months.
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