NANAIMO -- After over a decade of planning and two failed attempts to start development, the Vancouver Island Conference Centre hotel in downtown Nanaimo will finally begin construction of its new building.
Fencing has gone up and an excavator is on-site clearing the area in preparation for construction of a hotel that was first conceived of 11 years ago.
The city of Nanaimo says the project, the Courtyard by Marriot Hotel, is overseen by Utah-based developer, PEG Companies. The building is set to become a nine-storey, 172 room hotel and cost over $21-million to build.
“We are very excited to get this project underway,” says Bill Corsan, director of community development for the City of Nanaimo.
“It’s been over a decade trying to get the hotel project going in Nanaimo.”
The hotel was originally supposed to be built in 2008 by the same developer that built the Vancouver Island Conference Centre, which opened that year. However, the developer went bankrupt after the markets crashed 11 years ago.
After the first failed attempt at construction, Chinese developer SSS Manhoa planned to build a highrise hotel on the property in 2013. However, the city says that development never came to fruition.
Four years later, PEG Companies, in June 2017, was selected by council to develop the property.
Construction is now set to begin in early January and will take approximately 18 months to complete. The Courtyard by Marriot is expected to open in the summer of 2021.
