Garden Motel owner plans to include new economic development engine on Northwest Boulevard site

COEUR d’ALENE — Ron Ayers, who recently sold the Cedar Motel and RV Park, has his sights set on a project he has long pursued — his own hotel in Coeur d’Alene.

Earlier this year, he revealed a plan to build a four-story, 112-room Fairfield Inn and Suites on the site of the Garden Motel on Northwest Boulevard.

But it will be more than a hotel. He plans to incorporate a new economic development engine into the campus called “Coeurllaborate.”

Ayers came to Kootenai County in 2001 and purchased the Sleep Inn near Interstate 90 on Pleasantview Road in Post Falls. While he built the business at the Sleep Inn, he knew in order to realize his dream as a successful hotelier, the best place to be was in Coeur d’Alene.

He sold the Sleep Inn before the real estate bubble popped, and purchased a number of properties in Coeur d’Alene. One of those is the Garden Motel across from Riverstone on Northwest Boulevard.

“I’ve been in this for a very long time,” he said. “When I first purchased the Garden Motel 13 years ago, there was only one building in Riverstone. That was the First American Title Building.”

While Ayers has no firm timelines, he is hoping to open the new hotel in 2017.

Part of the plan will be to build an 18,000-square-foot business incubator called “Incoeurbator,” which will also house a makerspace similar to Gizmo in midtown Coeur d’Alene.

There will also be a second 16,000-square-foot co-working facility called “Coeurwork.”

He said ultimately, he would like to provide space for everyone involved in economic development in the area.

“If we could centralize economic development in a collaborative effort with all the economic development agencies at the table, that would be very powerful for the community,” he said.

Ayers said the project is still very young, and he will release more details after tenants are secured to anchor the development and other plans solidify.

When it comes time to demolish the Garden Motel, Ayers said, he will begin working with tenants to help them relocate.

Ayers said after 13 years of maintaining the dilapidated Cedar and Garden motels, he is ready to transition into the next phase of realizing his ultimate dream.

“It has not been an easy ride, that’s for sure,” he said. “But it will be worth it.”