Essex On The Park goes hoteling
The Essex On The Park luxury condominium project in downtown Bellevue is re-emerging as an upscale hotel, reports the Puget Sound Business Journal. Apparently, the current housing and economic climate has affected the salability of a yet another high-end condominium project. Homes at Essex On The Park was expected to fetch between $1 million to over $4 million.
The local arm of the Abu Dhabi-backed company known as Hydra Development will instead proceed with a 100-room luxury hotel to called the Bellevue Park Hotel. It’ll be managed by MTM Luxury Lodging which currently manages the Sorrento Hotel and Hotel 1000 in Seattle. The Bellevue Park Hotel will feature a spa, meeting space and four-star quality restaurant. Hydra expects to break ground next year with a 2012 completion date.
Downtown Bellevue has seen significant growth in luxury condominium developments in recent years with Lincoln Tower, Washington Square, Bellevue Towers, The Bravern and One Main Street. With Bellevue’s ample unsold supply of high-end condos, Hydra’s decision to convert usage is a good one for them and will benefit the other developments. Besides Essex, three other projects have either been scaled back or are on hold indefinitely – Washington Square, Vida and European Tower.
Yes, agreed, this is a great move for the developers. There is a much greater demand for hotel rooms right now than condominiums in Downtown Bellevue. The other reason I like this move is that there are very few to zero boutique hotels in Downtown Bellevue.