Municipal officials are working to address a hotel shortage in Chatham.
Councilors voted unanimously in favour Monday night of issuing an “Expression of Interest” (EOI) to potential developers in hopes of creating a new hotel on Richmond Street.
Earlier this year, council was presented a report by CBRE Limited, Valuation and Advisory Services who found that Chatham is lacking licensed accommodation.
“If there is interest we would be coming back to council in the future to get council direction on that,” said General Manager of Community Development Bruce McAllister.
Part of the John Bradley Convention Centre parking lot on Richmond Street was identified by staff as a good potential location, since it is on a major thoroughfare, is close to other amenities including retail, food service, the Cascades Casino, and the convention centre, while also having good accessibility off Highway 401.
Councillor Ryan Doyle expressed concern about limiting a potential build to a convention centre parking lot.
“We have done a feasibility study on that, we believe there is enough parking there,” said McAllister.
“We just wanted to offer a potential municipal option there that we own this land…Council hasn’t committed to the land or a sale price or lease. We are just saying this is a potential option.”
The EOI will target developers of a midscale to upper-midscale branded, limited-service hotel, which was identified through the accommodation needs assessment as the most suitable option for future development.
