BEMIDJI -- It's almost time to break ground for a new extended-stay hotel in Bemidji.
According to Bemidji City Building Official Mike Miller, the developers seeking to build a Candlewood Suites will be able to acquire a building permit within the next week, meaning the dirt can start moving in the near future.
"They plan to construct soon," Miller said, "We have just a few items to clarify on their plan review. Once that's done, we will be ready to issue it."
Once the building permit is ready, the construction will start on the former site of a Minnesota Department of Transportation Facility previously on sale for commercial use.
In December, the Bemidji City Council approved a draft purchase agreement with Aberdeen, S.D.-based Group Development for the property located along Paul Bunyan Drive South and Shevlin Avenue Southwest with a tentative price of $500,000.
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Mayana Rice, Greater Bemidji Joint Planning Board administrator, said the developers also went through the process of getting conditional use permits, a requirement for hotels and motels in the city. Additionally, Rice said the project is moving along with other permits being approved, too.
"Just a week ago their permit for grading and drainage was approved," Rice said. "I also know that they have received engineering, planning and zoning approval."
During a meeting with the Greater Bemidji Joint Planning Commission in spring, representatives from Lodging Construction LLC, the main contractor on the project, informed city officials that the hotel will have a 30-day limit on how long a guest can stay before having to re-check in.
When completed, the main entrance of the hotel will face Paul Bunyan Drive and there will be two access points along Shevlin Avenue, too. The hotel will be three stories, contain 71 rooms and is planned to be just under 13,000 square feet.
In conjunction with the hotel property, the city is currently working to upgrade the southern portion of Shevlin Avenue, with completion expected at the end of September.
"Shevlin had been on the horizon for the last couple years," Public Works Director and City Engineer Craig Gray said. "The water main there had broke and we had to dig up the road to replace it. We didn't start work to repair the road until we knew what the development was going to be so we would know what road access was needed."
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