Checking in on downtown hotel project

First street site cleans soil, gets new name, preps for spring ‘09 launch

By JENNIFER HUFFMAN
Register Business Writer

The Inn at Town Center has barely broken ground and it’s already gotten a makeover.

Known by many longtime Napans as a former J.C. Penney, then an antique mall, the now vacant lot at First and School streets, the site will soon become home to a new boutique-style hotel called AVIA Napa.

LodgeWorks L.P., a hospitality development and management firm based in Wichita, Kan., is the project developer. AVIA Napa replaces the hotel’s initial working name, the Inn at Town Center.

The rename of the $41 million project comes on the heels of removal of contaminated soils and water from the former gas station site and installation of a “curtain wall” keep water from migrating away from the site.

Additionally, monitoring wells will be installed and checked for one year to track reportable levels of petroleum contamination. Construction permits for the AVIA Napa are in the works, said Micah Hinkle of the city of Napa’s redevelopment office.

Located at 1400 First St., AVIA Napa promised to become “an integral component of the city’s downtown renaissance,” said a press release, offering “an intimate and inspiring setting.”

Design-wise, AVIA Napa “will reflect the romance and viticultural heritage of wine country.”

The hotel plan calls for 141 guest rooms, 1,900 square feet of meeting space and five stories. The AVIA Napa design palette will be “earthy and warm.” Rough-hewn details will create a “refined rustic” style.

Two ground floor retail spaces at AVIA Napa could include up to 8,000 square feet of restaurant space and 4,000 square feet of retail space, with up to five tenants. LodgeWorks spokeswoman Cheryl Doll wrote in an e-mail that AVIA Napa hopes to sign on high-end dining and boutique tenants, perhaps including a day spa. The second floor will feature gardens and seating areas. Tenants have not yet been identified, said Doll.

LodgeWorks expects 35,000 to 40,000 guests annually at AVIA Napa.

“The vibrant renaissance the city is experiencing makes it the perfect location to introduce a new hotel experience for guests who are bored with anything cookie-cutter,” said B. Anthony Isaac, president of LodgeWorks.

AVIA Napa joins several other hotel construction projects within downtown, including the Ritz-Carlton and Westin Verasa projects. Together they represent a combined $301 million investment in downtown Napa.

AVIA Napa will become one of four properties in LodgeWorks’ AVIA group, which also includes developments in Houston, Long Beach and Savannah, Ga.

AVIA Napa is scheduled to open in the spring of 2009.

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