Commission approves new 80-room hotel for Bishop
Developer says ‘high-quality’ hotel would fill void in Bishop
Image courtesy of Greens Development
The city of Bishop’s Planning Commission on Thursday approved a conditional use permit that will allow the development of an 80-room hotel next to the Vons grocery store on N. Main Street.
The commission voted 6-1, with Commissioner Heather Lind casting the “no” vote stating that she thought a hotel would not be appropriate for the site and that current amenities in Bishop might not be able to accommodate another hotel.
Anastasiia Budnyk, assistant city planner, said the next steps will be going through the building permit process.
Budnyk told commissioners that plans call for a one-storey, 3,700-squarefoot hotel with 80 rooms to be located south of the Vons grocery store, west of Spruce Street and north of the intersection of Spruce and Mc Iver streets.
According to the project narrative, the project anticipates breaking ground in the winter of 2024 and will take approximately 12 months to build, with an anticipated opening date in the winter of 2025.
The project has a total of 317 existing parking spaces.
Amenities for hotel guests include an exercise room, breakfast area, guest laundry, and outdoor patios for guest rooms on the interior of the hotel, each with private seating and fire pits.
Each guest room, the narrative states, has a vanity area, work desk, a built-in refrigerator, microwave, and bathroom with a shower. Each room will also have a flat-screen television and clothes closet, whereas different rooms will have a variety of beds, e.g., king or double queen beds, to enhance guest experience and cater to their specific needs.
Quality and investment
Atman Kadakia, managing principal for Greens Development, which is developing the project, who attended Thursday’s meeting via Zoom, said what his company is proposing is a Hampton Inn by Hilton, “which is a highquality hotel within the Hilton family.”
“Currently, there are no Hilton, Marriott or Hiatt
brands in the city of Bishop,” Kadakia said. “Many of today’s travelers are looking to be affiliated with those types of national brand loyalty programs.”
Kadakia said his company is based in Irvine, California, and has numerous hotels either open for business, under construction or in various stages of development.
He said Greens Development currently is developing a hotel in Mammoth Lakes next to the Village Lodge, which is slated to break ground in the next six months.
Kadakia said his company has two hotels it is developing in Ridgecrest and owns two hotels already with potentially more in Lancaster.
“So we are very much invested in the (U.S. Highway) 395 Corridor,” Kadakia said.
He said his family often recreated in the area and stayed at many of the motels in Bishop over the years.
Kadakia said the hotel planned for Bishop “will not only help revitalize the aging, vacant shopping center but also serve the needs of many of the residents, visitors and businesses of Bishop.”
He noted that his company not only develops the project but it also is the operator of those projects.
“We are highly invested in things that affect the backbone of the project,” he said. “This includes parking, (traffic) circulation access and ultimately we take great pride in the quality of our projects.”
Kadakia said his company also works within the community, such as with the local chamber of commerce, schools and businesses, including other hotels.
He said his company works through franchises with several companies, including Hilton and Marriott, and while a formal agreement hasn’t been signed with Hampton Inn, “we are in the 11th hour and we have done over a dozen deals with Hampton Inn and Hilton and fully expect it to be executed.”
Viability
Kadakia said that the Creekside Inn in Bishop recently switched owners and was purchased “at a very high price – nearly $300,000 per unit.”
He said the price was based on the Creekside Inn’s occupancy rate as marketed by the broker with an average daily rate of $200.
“There were many soldout nights and no opportunity for guests to go to any other hotel of similar quality and design,” he said.
“The market is very strong and Bishop is currently losing business to neighboring cities along the 395 Corridor due to a lack of nationally recognizable brands in the market as nothing new has been constructed in several decades,” Kadakia said.
He said while there is seasonality, the hotel market in Bishop does enjoy occupancy percentages in the mid 70s “and there are many nights that are sold out where travelers simply cannot find a room.”
Kadakia said those numbers are based on data provided by CoStar Data, which is a national research platform that compiles and shares the data of hotel markets within different cities in the U.S.
“That’s the need that we are looking to serve and we are hopeful that our project will enhance the city and provide positive benefits to the community.
Kadakia said his company expects the hotel to bring in more than $5 million a year directly to the city’s general fund by way of the transient occupancy tax, or hotel tax, which the city could use to enhance services provided to residents.
A conditional use permit was required due to zoning mandates and a number of conditions of approval were included.
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power also mandated that the Mac Iver ditch must be maintained in a manner consistent with LADWP standards, as well as allow LADWP access when necessary to allow for their maintenance needs, which was part of the permit.
Construction and operations
Some of the other details in the project narrative included:
• Construction: The construction will be a 1-story type V-A construction with surface-level parking.
• Time of operations: The hours of operation are 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
• Parking: Self-parking is provided on the surface parking lot 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Any loitering or city code violations will be reported by hotel management to the appropriate authorities.
On-site self-parking is consistent with and vastly exceeds the code requirement as the site provides 317 existing parking stalls for the 80-room project. Four parking stalls opposite the hotel entrance will be dedicated to guest check-in in addition to the drop-off zone adjacent to the hotel to ensure efficient circulation through the drive aisles.
• Occupancy: The anticipated occupancy for this type of product has seasonal variability but is estimated at approximately 78%.
• Number of employees: The total number of employees for daytime shifts will be approximately six. During the day, the typical shift will consist of three maids, one front desk clerk, one maintenance person, and one hotel manager from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. After working hours, the number of employees reduces to 1 front desk clerk.
• Site security and maintenance: Exterior cameras will be mounted at building entrances and throughout the parking lot. Fire alarm as required by NFPA 13. During the final design, a photometric consultant will be engaged to study and provide options for illumination of the landscaped areas along the southerly and westerly portions of the lot to minimize vagrancy and meet city code requirements.
Deliveries and loading area: A hotel of this size does not require a designated loading and delivery area. The deliveries made primarily consist of small, sundry items for the hotel market. These deliveries are typically made daily by a small van, no larger than 24 feet in length.