The Des Moines City Council, continuing their discussion on development guidelines for the marina district, looked June 2 at the possibility of putting hotels by the marina.

"Hotel development seems like it would be a perfect fit for our city," Des Moines Economic Director Marion Yoshino said.
She said what city officials are trying to address in the marina district is the underutilization and deterioration of commercial properties.

It was a very preliminary discussion, and it was not clear how feasible the idea would be.

The city talked to several hotel managers, including Jewel Hospitality and Coastal Hotel Group. Coastal runs Cedarbrook Lodge in SeaTac.

For success, lawmakers heard, a hotel would likely need 100 or more rooms with at least one parking space for each room. In the marina district, that would mean underground parking.

Consistent with the new design guidelines the council members are discussing, the hotels would feature wide sidewalks with good pedestrian access.

"The idea of a hotel is intriguing," Councilman Dave Kaplan said. But he said the council doesn't know yet what they want the beach park to be and that whatever happens in the marina needs to be coordinated.

Councilman Dan Sherman said, "The use of that space for a hotel or a restaurant makes sense to me." But, like Kaplan, Sherman said it all depends on the context of what else they decide to do with the space.

All of the council members who spoke were in favor of investigating the possibility of putting a hotel on the marina floor, except for Councilman Scott Thomasson.

"Is it the best? I don't know," Thomasson said. "It's kind of the flavor of the moment."

Thomasson noted the council seems to jump at whatever trendy thing that is suggested.