A family-owned company with local ties plans to start a long-awaited, $25-million hotel in downtown Medford next spring.

Rural Ashland resident Wesley Reimer, one of the owners of Colorado-based Western Hospitality LLC, said the Element by Westin, an extended stay hotel, could open in 2027.

“We’re chugging along,” he said. “We’re ready to go.”

Reimer said Western Hospitality is anticipating developing a second hotel in the downtown, which has been without a major hotel since the closure of the 118-room Inn at the Commons in 2021.

Reimer and his wife, Corrie, own two Ashland restaurants, Bar Juliet and Hither Coffee & Goods. He said his father and uncle started Western Hospitality in Grand Junction, and the company has five hotels in its portfolio.

Final details of the project are being worked out, Reimer said, but plans call for a four-story, 123-room hotel located north of Pear Blossom Park and fronting Fourth Street. The new hotel should break ground in spring 2025. Medford-based Outlier Construction will be in charge of construction.

Reimer described the hotel design as having an “urban feel, but not quite,” and will feature a larger meeting room that could accommodate up to 60 people because of the lack of conference space in the downtown. Originally, the meeting room was designed to host 25 people.

Weimer said he looks forward to the city developing plans for a major conference center in the downtown.

Sixty percent of the rooms at the hotel will have kitchenettes for extended-stay guests. A pool and hot tub will also be featured.

At the front of the building on Fourth Street, a special parking area is being designed to make it easier for guests to check in.

Another guest entrance will be located behind the hotel, adjacent to the secure parking area. Weimer said a space will be available for a food truck, and he said the availability of restaurants and coffee shops in the downtown will appeal to guests.

In Oregon, Element hotels are located only in Beaverton and Bend, but they are found in many major cities throughout the U.S. The Medford Element hotel would be the first one of its kind in southwest Oregon.

The hotel has been in the works for four years, slowed down by the coronavirus pandemic.

Weimer said downtown Medford could support two similarly sized hotels. Economies of scale, including shared staffing, would make the operation of two hotels by the same company an appealing option, he said.

Other potential sites are being considered in the downtown, Weimer said.

A recently released drawing from the Medford Urban Renewal Agency gives a glimpse of what the hotel will look like, though colors and other details could be modified as the project makes its way through the planning process.

“Actually seeing pictures makes this seem real,” said Nick Card, a MURA board member and city councilor, at a recent MURA meeting. “I think this is really going to happen.”

MURA purchased the land where the hotel is located from Lithia Motors in 2021 for $1.5 million.

As part of an agreement with MURA, Western Hospitality would purchase the MURA property for up to $1.75 million. In 2020, an appraisal estimated the fair market value at $1.5 million.

To prepare the property for the hotel, MURA will demolish existing buildings, which includes asbestos abatement, and will move underground utilities.

“We’re going to go ahead and get the site ready,” said Harry Weiss, executive director of MURA. “Everything we do to repair the site will be reflected in the sale price of the property.”

If a new appraisal of the property exceeds $1.75 million after the site preparation is complete, further negotiations would be triggered between Western Hospitality and MURA.

The hotel property would be bounded by Apple, Bartlett, Third and Fourth streets.

A portion of Apple Street and half of Third Street would be vacated as part of the development of the 2.47-acre hotel site.