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<br />SUMMARY OF RESEARCH AND RECOMMENDED STRATEGIES <br />EDA STRATEGIC PLAN 48 <br />14. HOTEL DEVELOPMENT <br />The limited options for hotel stays in Elk River was noted by the EDA and staff as a <br />limitation in attracting tourists. It was also noted as a limitation by a local business <br />owner for hosting business relationship while they are in town. <br />Elk River only has one <br />nationally branded <br />hotel—the three story, <br />77-room Country Inn and <br />Suites near Highway 169 <br />and School Street, built <br />in 1997. Another hotel— <br />a four story, 125-room <br />Holiday Inn, is located <br />right across the river in <br />Otsego and also serves <br />visitors to Elk River. <br />Both are offering room <br />rates currently at around <br />$79 per night, although in all likelihood that’s heavily discounted because of the <br />pandemic. <br />Our understanding of Elk River’s development landscape leads us to believe that there <br />are strong potential locations for an additional hotel. For a quick perspective on market <br />demand for new hotel development we contacted Tim Storey—a real estate broker at <br />Cushman Wakefield who specializes in hotel development—to talk about the prospects <br />of attracting an additional hotel in Elk River. Mr. Storey made the following <br />observations. <br />• It’s obviously a challenging time. The entire industry is stressed by the decline <br />in hotel occupancy. Lots of hotels are exploring conversion to apartments, or <br />are working on debt restructuring. <br />• The Holiday Inn in Otsego has been for sale for a while, which may not bode <br />well for adding a hotel to the area. <br />• A new hotel would not be a high amenity hotel. A smaller property with <br />streamlined amenities might be a possibility, if it has a strong location. <br />Cushman Wakefield and other brokerages could do further research on hotel viability in <br />Elk River, and help to market a site to potentially interested hotel chains. But that’s a <br />project that wouldn’t make sense until the dust settles on the currently challenging hotel <br />economy. <br />The value of having an additional hotel option should also be borne in mind as planning <br />occurs for parts of Elk River that may be good hotel locations—including downtown Elk <br />River and the Great River Energy site.