Gardner Co. considers two hotels for Parcel B

As the Gardner Co. continues to evaluate downtown Boise’s Parcel B for a 200-room hotel, the developer’s notions are evolving in new directions.

The developer’s original idea was to pair a hotel with an apartment building on the dirt parking lot bounded by Myrtle, Front, 11th and 13th streets. That has given way to the idea of adding a second, smaller hotel.

Gardner Executive Vice President David Wali outlined the proposed changes Monday to Pat Rice, executive director of the Greater Boise Auditorium District, which owns the 5.02-acre Parcel B.

Wali and Gardner Chief Operating Officer Tommy Ahlquist are on vacation and were not available for comment July 27, said Travis Hawkes, managing partner at Riverwood Strategies, Gardner’s public relations representative.

“I can confirm for you that we are exploring the possibility of building two hotels on the site in order to meet the demand of needed hotel rooms,” Hawkes said. “This would push the total rooms on Parcel B to around 300.”

Rice said Wali told him Gardner is negotiating with Embassy Suites for the big hotel. Gardner officials have been publicly silent about a hotel brand.

“We can’t confirm the hotel flag as those agreements haven’t been finalized,” Hawkes said on behalf of Gardner.

Gardner entered into a memorandum of understanding with GBAD on April 9 for an exclusive right for six months to evaluate Parcel B for its development potential. The evaluation period runs into October.

Gardner has worked with the local office of architectural firm Babcock Design to draw up an 11-story hotel plus an 800-car garage with the potential of condominiums on top of the garage.

The Gardner hotels are among four downtown Boise hotel proposals in the pre-development stages. The Myrtle Street/Capitol Boulevard intersection has two active proposals with a Marriott Residence Inn and an Inn at 500 Capitol, and a Hyatt Place is under consideration for Bannock Street between 10^th and 11^th streets.