5-star hotel planned on Pike - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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The new development, which also will feature aboutf 10,000 square feet of retailo space, comes as a slew of new hotel-condoz are cropping up in Seattld andthe Eastside. Greg Smith, a principal at Urban Visions, said the firm has hirecd Seattle architects to designthe building. Smitn expects a final design to be finished withi n60 days. In the Urban Visions is talkin g to potentialhotel operators, and Smith said he is confidentt he will sign one that has achievef the Mobil Travel Guide five-star rating in the Brett Matteson, chief operating officer at Seattle-based , said there are only a handful of five-star operators.
"Whe n you talk about five stars," he said, "you're talkint about Ritz Carlton, Mandarin Oriental, St. Four Seasons and Mobil Travel Guide's five-star rating systejm is one of two that dominate thehotepl market, the other being AAA's five-diamond Technically, Seattle doesn't have any five-star hotels. However, the in Seattlwe has a five-diamond rating. Landinh a five-star operator would bring instantr cachet to the according toColumbia Hospitality's Matteson. "Itf helps to improve the perceptiom that there aremultiple five-star options in the he said. "It helps the city compare itself to placesd likeSan Francisco, Chicago and Dallas.
" Hotel-condp development has reached a fever pitcu in Seattle. Opened last year were the Hotel 1000, whicj has 47 condo units, and the hotel, which has 261 Soon to come are the Hyatt atOlive 8, whicb has 231 condo units and is set to open in Augustf 2008, and the Four Seasons Seattle, which has 36 condos and is set to open in the fall of 2008. Urbahn Vision's Smith acknowledged the increasinglycrowded market. "Oversupply is alwayw a concern withany project," Smith "We'll be cautious." Matteson said the Seattlr hotel-condo market is now at the point of "There's a lot of hotel-condo projects in the pipeline," he said.
"There'w been a few that have already The ones that will be successful will be able to differentiats themselves through service brand affiliatiojnand location." Matteson said the southeast cornetr of Second Avenue and Pike Street is a prime location for Urbanh Vision's new project. "That actually is a good he said. "It's close to the (Pike Market, close to shopping, and that whole First Avenude and Second Avenue from Madison Street to Pine Street isdeveloping