Another local hotel in the works

Planned Best Western-brand, 120-suite hotel is third announced in past eight months

Whoever said it was bad things that happen in threes didn’t know much about new hotels in south Medicine Hat.

Meadowlands Development Corp. announced Monday it has contracted land near the Black and White Trail and Strachan Road for sale to a local group that plans to build a 120-suite Best Western brand hotel.

It is the third new hotel announced for the general area in the past eight months.

The new entry is planned by Sun City Hotels and partners Sunny Atwal and Neil Ratol, who own several local businesses as well as a home construction company in Regina. Ratol formerly owned the Ramada in Medicine Hat, which has since changed franchises.

“We’re getting back into the business,” said Atwal on Tuesday.

“It’s a great opportunity. We have the best brand — Best Western — and there are a lot of factors.”

“We are planning on this fall starting to dig if everything goes through as planned.”

The planned hotel will fall under the Best Western Premier and Executive Residency brands. About 40 per cent of the suites will be under “executive” style, with larger kitchenettes for longer stay clients. A pool, waterslides, plus an in-house restaurant as well as other amenities are planned.

The four- or five-storey hotel will sit on a two-acre parcel. The preliminary construction budget is $15 million.

Along with two other unrelated hotels, more than 300 rooms will be added to the south end when construction is complete in later 2018 or early 2019.

In general, the south side of the city is experiencing a commercial construction boom.

Along with nearby grocery store and box store construction — plus ongoing major renovation at the Medicine Hat Mall — the list of projects could approach $100 million.

“It speaks obviously to some pent-up demand in the industry,” said Meadowlands COO Curtis Presber.

Last month, Canalta Hotels announced it planned to finalize a conditional land purchase with the City of Medicine Hat for a major parcel on Strachan Road.

Work could begin this summer to subdivide the 17-acre site on Strachan Road to house a second Canalta facility (the Drumheller-based company operates a Hampton’s brand hotel in westend Medicine Hat). The mid-sized commercial park will also include a South Country Co-op gas bar and liquor store outlet as well as several other businesses.

Further east, the Braemar Group plans to built a Marriot Towne Place Suites hotel on Paul Stober Way, east of the Sobeys grocery outlet.

That group, which already owns and runs the Comfort Inn near the Medicine Hat Mall, is operated by former Hatter Rod Hazard. He told the News on Tuesday that his company is in the final planning stages and work could commence soon.

The Sun City land is part of Meadowland’s historic inventory — 30 acres sitting on the curve that transitions Strachan Road into the Black and White Trial.

The hotel and other subdivision work this year could account for about one-third of the parcel, with about 20 acres remaining for potential development.

“We’re working on servicing a portion of it right now,” said Presber, who said his commercial area plan will be advanced as well. “We are getting interest ... based on demand we’ll work our way around (the site). We’re being a little tentative, but we have some premier space located there that will come into the fold over the next few years.

“We’re being patient with it.”