A proposed south Napa hotel and fitness center both got one step closer to approval at the Napa County Planning Commission meeting Thursday night.
The development project, led by the Gasser Foundation, would feature a 115-room Hampton Inn & Suites hotel with pool and other amenities. A second building would become home to an In-Shape Health Club with workout facilities, racquetball courts and two pools.
A new 223-space parking lot would be built to accommodate the project, which would be located immediately west and adjacent to the new South Napa Century Center and movie theater.
Representatives from Gasser, hotel developer OTO Development of South Carolina and In-Shape Health Clubs of Stockton were on hand Thursday night in support of the project.
After extensive review during the meeting, initial project approvals were granted, but the commission asked Gasser to return in October to resolve additional issues including signage, landscaping and a trash enclosure.
“Overall, I think we’re pretty much there, it’s just figuring out some final details,” Planning Commissioner Mike Murray said Friday.
Gasser representative Joe Fischer said the foundation felt a mid-tier hotel operator like Hampton Inn & Suites would be a good fit for the city. Developer OTO Development custom designs its hotel projects, he noted. “We think you will like what you see,” said Fischer.
“We think that the Hampton Inn is a great option for business and leisure travelers coming to our valley,” said Gasser Foundation President Joe Peatman.
In May 2012, OTO Development signed a ground lease with an option to purchase a portion of land in the South Napa Century Center owned by the Gasser Foundation. The price for the lease was not disclosed.
The four-story hotel building will reflect the same character as the existing theater project, said the planning commission report. The exterior will be predominately painted stucco with areas of ceramic tile and painted metal. Exterior colors will be light beige and brown with gray ceramic tiles and green tinted glazing.
Hotel and fitness center guests will access the property by a new driveway from Hartle Court and three internal driveways that will connect to the existing Century Center parking lot. The health club will be immediately north of the hotel and directly west of the theater building.
The two-story fitness center will be the health club’s 69th location, and cost $6 million to develop, said In-Shape representative Michelle Clark. First established in 1981, the business has since grown to include health clubs throughout California, she said. The closest In-Shape clubs are in American Canyon and Vallejo.
“We’re very excited” to be building a second club in Napa County, she said.
The 40,000-square-foot facility will be designed from ground up “with the Napa community in mind,” Clark said. The building will feature extensive windows to allow views of the river, she said. Other amenities include indoor and outdoor pools heated year-round, with lounging decks, cabanas, shade structures and lounge furniture. The indoor facilities will include a group exercise studio, kids club, three racquetball courts and possibly a cycle studio, among other offerings.
“We’re hoping to make it kind of resort-like,” said Clark, and “a destination club for the whole family.”
To draw in new members, the business will open a preview center featuring a mini gym at the site of a former furniture store at 459 Soscol Ave., next to the Gasser Building. The preview center should open in October, and the new gym should open in spring 2014, she said.
Clark said that with the In-Shape centers in American Canyon and Vallejo, plus those in Solano County, the center has a lot of current members who have asked for another gym in Napa County, she said. “We go where the need and desire is.”
Membership rates for the Napa club will start around $40 a month, but charter members who use the preview center will pay half of that. Once complete, the gym will employ about 50 people, she said.
No comments :
Post a Comment