COEUR d’ALENE — A six-story Marriott hotel proposed in downtown Coeur d’Alene was unanimously approved Thursday by the city’s Design Review Commission with several conditions. 

Project developers will meet with city staff in the coming months to meet those conditions, which include a traffic study, pedestrian safety features, sidewalks being brought into ADA compliance and pedestrian-use enhancements on Sixth Street.

Parker Lange, a manager with Providence Development, based in Bozeman, Mont., said if all goes well, construction could begin this summer and would take about two years to complete.

The hotel is planned at Sixth and Sherman. It would have 131 rooms, 130 parking spaces, three stories of underground parking, a fitness center, rooftop bar and outdoor patio. Vehicles will be able to enter and exit via Sherman Avenue and the alley.

About 60 people crowded into a conference room at City Hall for the public hearing that lasted nearly three hours. Most spoke passionately against it. 

They argued it didn’t fit with the historic character of downtown, lacked sufficient parking, would increase traffic, take business away from locally owned motels, put additional burden on police and parks and turn Coeur d’Alene into a Seattle or Portland.

“You can’t undo putting in corporate hotels, which really are the antithesis” of downtown, said Rebecca Olivieri. 

She said the hotel belonged more on East Sherman Avenue. If allowed downtown, she said it would change the small town feel of the area.

“That needs to be cherished,” she said, as the crowd applauded.

Cheryl McHale said people go downtown to shop, visit The Coeur d’Alene Resort and dine at restaurants. Parking is already tight.

“This is going to obliterate anything that is left,” she said.

McHale was also not a fan of the design.

“It looks like a cookie-cutter kind of project,” McHale said.

Amber Hellar said a Marriott hotel is not a good fit for downtown Coeur d’Alene.

“It just does not feel right,” she said. 

The city also received numerous emails from residents opposed to the development.

“Impact of a hotel is totally different than condo living as it is totally transitory and occupied by short-term occupants with no real regard for the community,” wrote Ed Hatter.

But both Design Review Commissioner Chairman Tom Messina and Commissioner Jon Ingalls pointed out the six-member commission's authority was limited to whether the project met a set of certain design criteria for the Downtown Core zoning district.

Its impact on parking, businesses, character, police or taxpayers was not under their purview. 

“In most cases, it’s pretty pass-fail,” Ingalls said.

Messina told the crowd their testimony was “not falling on deaf ears. We hear it. We can only do what we can do.”

It was also noted the hotel is proposed at 75-feet high and could have gone 200 feet.

“They’re building less than what they could,” Messina said.

Architect Michael Nilson with The Richardson Design Partnership outlined the hotel design. 

The top section will have overhanging roofs and an open roof deck with trellis and windows. The main material will be a dark metal panels, with accent metal panels.

The middle of the building will have a “regular pattern of guestroom windows surround by dark and light color brick veneer.”

The base features “a large amount of storefront glazing and canopies to define the ground level. The finish is a combination of light gray brick, darker composite panels accented with horizontal wood siding with a decorative concrete plinth.”

According to a staff report, the project “satisfied the comprehensive plan’s desire for hospitality uses to help bolster Coeur d’Alene as a tourist destination and maintain the community’s friendly, welcoming atmosphere and its small-town feel.”

The report also said the project “will help maintain a high quality of life for residents and businesses,” “provides for nightlife activities in the form of an upscale bar and outdoor patio,” and “structure parking provides parking capacity for this project while keeping the walkable feel of the streets.”

The development came to the city’s attention last year. A city report said the applicant completed a project review meeting Aug. 1, 2023, and completed an initial meeting with staff Oct 21.

Resident Brad Jordan said he supported the hotel and said it would enhance downtown.

He said the grass lot at Sixth and Sherman, about half an acre, was a good location for it.

“It’s not doing any good right now as a vacant lot,” he said.

John Nichols supported the hotel.

“As someone that owns and develops properties in North Idaho, having a new hotel in downtown would be great for the local economy," he wrote.

The development will not go before the City Council unless a written appeal of the commission’s decision is filed with the city.

    Residents listen to plans for a Marriott hotel in downtown Coeur d'Alene during Thursday's Design Review Commission meeting on Thursday at City Hall.
  

    Design Review Commissioner Jef Lemmon speaks during Thursday's meeting on Thursday at City Hall.