Fairfield Inn plans four-story Gateway Drive project by Tiffany
Ford
A four-story, 88-room hotel project planned for Gateway Drive on
the northern edge of Hollister has been rekindled with the lifting
of the local building moratorium.
Fairfield Inn plans four-story Gateway Drive project by Tiffany Ford
A four-story, 88-room hotel project planned for Gateway Drive on the northern edge of Hollister has been rekindled with the lifting of the local building moratorium.
Lotus Management Inc. of San Jose has proposed building a more than 53,000-square-foot Fairfield Inn and Suites Marriott Hotel on a cul-de-sac west of Tiffany Ford. The 1.49-acre project is scheduled to come before the Hollister Planning this month for site and architectural review.
“Being in a general commercial area near the north gateway of the city, I think the project would be a stimulant to economic development in that area,” said Abraham Prado, an assistant planner for the city of Hollister. “We hope it would provide an incentive for other property owners to develop in vacant lands in the area.”
If approved by the Planning Commission, property owners Paresh and Prakesh Patel would have 18 months to pull a building permit, Prado said.
The brothers, who began their careers in 1979 leasing and managing four Santa Cruz hotels owned by their father, now manage more than 20 hotels in California and Oregon, including a Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Watsonville, a Microtel Inn in Salinas and a Super 8 in Santa Cruz. The Patels could not be reached for comment.
According to its Web site, Lotus Management originally planned to open a Holiday Inn Express by 2004 at the Gateway Drive location, but those plans were curtailed by the moratorium.
John DeCarlo, business manager for Countryside Day Care and Preschool at 331 Gateway Drive, located just up the street from the proposed hotel site, views the project as a boon to the area.
“I think it’s a positive developing that end of town,” he said. “It’s been a good site for us.”
Countryside moved to its current location in 2003.
Bob Tiffany, owner of Tiffany Ford, said he is pleased that the hotel project is moving forward down the street from his business.
“I see it as nothing but positive,” he said. “I think we clearly need some economic vitality in this community and this is a start. Having it next door to us is a plus. I don’t know that it’ll bring lots of business to us but it brings people to the area, which is great.”
