Hagadone Hospitality Co. plans to expand The Coeur d'Alene Resort with a nearby, 139-guest-room hotel development that is expected to cater to leisure travelers and to boost the economic impact of the tourism industry in North Idaho, says Bill Reagan, president of the resort hotel.

The project, dubbed Sherman Tower, will be located a block north of The Coeur d'Alene Resort, on the north side of Sherman Avenue, between First and Second streets. 

Pending approval of design plans by the city of Coeur d'Alene Design Review Commission, construction could begin in 2025 and wrap up by 2027, Reagan says.

"We've had our first meeting with them, and they've informed us of the kind of technical things they would like us to come back with," he says, adding that a follow-up meeting with the commission is expected to take place in January.

"By February or March we should have that approval, and then we would go through construction drawing," Reagan says. "That will probably take us about eight months to do, and then we would be ready to apply for a building permit."

He declines to disclose construction cost estimates. As currently planned, Sherman Tower appears to be larger in scope than the nearby, 15-story One Lakeside building, which has 69 living units and opened in 2021 with a construction value of $20 million.

Preliminary design plans show the building will rise in tiers from the fifth to 15th floors.

As designed, a single-loaded corridor arrangement, in which rooms are accessed from only one side of the building, will give all guest rooms a view of Lake Coeur d'Alene, he says.

Longwell+Trapp Architects PLLC, of Hayden, has created the preliminary designs for the proposal, according to marketing materials from Hagadone Hospitality. A contractor will be selected later to help in the design and bidding processes, says Reagan.

Rooms are expected to average 510 square feet, according to a project announcement. Other amenities include retail space on Sherman Avenue, a fitness center, a business office, and a café that would serve morning coffee and evening cocktails in the lobby.

Sherman Tower represents the third iteration of expansion plans for the resort and departs from previous hotel proposals by targeting leisure travelers instead of group visitors, Reagan says.

Almost a decade ago, the company proposed a hotel tower addition near the resort's spa and convention center.

"It was such a tight piece of property that it would have been very expensive and would have been really disruptive," he says. "It just didn't give us the flexibility that we deserved if we were going to spend that kind of money."

The second version of expansion plans would have placed the hotel on a portion of the plaza. At the time, the company was focused on appealing to group travelers and envisioned converting the inside of the plaza to meeting spaces, but that proposed structure would have blocked neighboring property's views of the waterfront, Reagan says.

The Sherman Tower represents a "Goldilocks" solution for Hagadone Hospitality's hotel expansion plans, he says.

"This is just the perfect situation because we already own all the property, and we have an underperforming asset that needs to be developed as the entrance coming into Coeur d'Alene," Reagan says. "What's there now doesn't dignify the city, and I think it gives us a chance to fix that."

Additionally, new plans for the proposed tower will complement The Coeur d'Alene Resort's exterior aesthetic with similar peak shapes, copper, concrete, and colored stucco building materials.

"A lot of the same components will make it look like it was built at the same time as the resort, or that it was part of the whole development," says Reagan. "It should complement everything else that's taking place out there. It will be a vast improvement over what we have there today."

Community preferences for the third hotel proposal, such as unobstructed lake views, were incorporated into the preliminary design plans for Sherman Tower, he says.

After the anticipated completion in 2027, 100 to 125 employees are expected to staff the Sherman Tower. 

"One thing that's going to be nice about this hotel is it's going to offer additional opportunities for our existing staff to step into new leadership positions that will be created," Reagan says.

A Northern Idaho Tourism Economic Impact Report indicates the region's direct travel expenditures reached $1.1 billion in 2021 and contributed $88.2 million in tax revenues at the state and local levels. Tourism employment supported over 12,200 positions, or 9% of all employment in North Idaho.

"Tourism in North Idaho has recovered very strongly," Reagan says. "The growth in population since the pandemic has been huge, and there are more retired people moving to our area that are bringing substantial resources to the community. They're willing to go out and dine more often, they like going to the theater, they take advantage of concerts and all these different recreational opportunities."

The name of the addition was derived from the location and aligns with the other guest accommodations, he says.

The Coeur d'Alene Resort currently provides over 300 guest rooms in three wings of the property: the Lake Tower, the Park Tower, and the North Wing, according to its website. 

"It's just a natural extension that we call this the Sherman Tower," Reagan says.