Hollister City Council members Monday approved a market study that is designed to help the city decide if a new downtown hotel is a “viable development opportunity.”
The study, developed by PKF Consulting USA, will cost the city $14,000 and take about six to eight weeks to complete, said City Manager Bill Avera. The study will review the feasibility and cost of possibly building a new hotel near the new Walgreens on Tres Pinos Road.
“We got them to prepare a study for us to begin marketing and handing out to potential developers,” Avera said.
The study will be divided up into three sections, Avera said. Phase one will consist of “market demand analysis,” which will include analysis of areas considered best sites in the city for hotel suitability, in addition to reviewing the economic needs of the city and doing interviews with business owners in the proposed areas.
Then the study will look at the economic feasibility of a hotel, including a cash flow forecast of the business and the total cost of developing it.
Finally, the study will recommend final plans and conclusions for the hotel development.
In 2010, Fairfield Inn & Suites Marriott Hotel considered building a new hotel near the Tiffany Ford dealership on San Felipe Road but stopped short of moving forward while waiting on financing for the project in the down economy. Avera said that project may still go forward but he doesn’t know when.
The development would come as the economy in Hollister and across the county continues to climb from the depths of the recession and as the city looks to attract new businesses to the area – including the approval of the Hollister Motorcycle Rally for the next 10 years as a key economic driver of new businesses and visitors to Hollister.
