$26 million hotel being built in Lynnwood’s City Center

LYNNWOOD — Construction has started on a $26 million, six-story hotel in Lynnwood, another piece of the puzzle of the city’s fledgling downtown.

The 155-room Hilton Garden Inn at 3801 Alderwood Mall Boulevard is expected to be finished by July 2018.

The hotel is a core piece to Lynnwood’s City Center vision for the city, which includes two under-construction apartment buildings with 650 units.

“We’re attempting through the City Center to create a more urban environment,” said Dustin Akers, the City Center program manager.

The seven-story CityCenter Apartments and eight-story City Center Senior Living Apartments were the first time in Lynnwood’s history that cranes were used for construction, Akers said.

When those open this summer — and the hotel opens a year later — hundreds of people will live and stay in Lynnwood’s City Center, which is expected to spur further development. All three of the projects are visible from I-5.

“It’s definitely great to have these high-rise buildings tell the story of what’s going on here,” Akers said.

The Hilton Garden Inn is being built by Virginia-based Kalyan Hospitality. Thomas Builders is the general contractor.

The hotel will feature an indoor pool, an outdoor pool deck, an outdoor terrace, a fitness center and meeting space as well as a restaurant and a lounge.

The hotel is immediately adjacent to the CityCenter Apartments and construction had to wait until that project was well under way, Akers said.

Crews began doing groundwork in February, but the project will soon start going up vertically, he said.

The apartments and the hotel are a 10-minute walk away from the planned Lynnwood light rail station, which is scheduled to open in 2023.

The hotel builder was attracted to the site because of its proximity to the Lynnwood Convention Center, which has hosted more than 4,000 events and 750,000 guests over the past 10 years, according to Robert Bhat, a director in Marcus Millchamp Capital Corportation, which arranged for funding for the project.

Financing for projects of this size can be challenging, he said.

“However, in this case, there is an experienced hotel developer/operator with a strong track record who knows the market well,” Bhat said in a statement.

“In addition, this asset will have an incredible location adjacent to the Lynnwood Convention Center. It will be the closest of any hotel and will feature a walkway to the convention center.”