Three Hotels Will Add 300 Rooms to City

V1 Staff |

Eau Claire could gain 300 new hotel rooms over the next few years if three planned projects reach fruition. Two of the new hotels are slated to be built on the site of the recently closed Clarion Hotel and Green Mill Restaurant at 2703 Craig Road on Eau Claire’s southwest side. The Eau Claire Plan Commission approved a site plan and rezoning of that property on May 6, and the proposal was scheduled to go before the City Council on Tuesday, May 14. If the final go-ahead is given, the existing hotel and restaurant will be demolished in the near future, after UW-Eau Claire students living there move out at the end of the spring semester. The first phase of the redevelopment will include a four-story, 90-room hotel, while the second phase will be a four-story, 103-room hotel. In the final phase, a 6,350-square-foot commercial building will be constructed. The property is owned by Craig Road Lodging LLC, a division of Eau Claire-based Larson Properties, which has numerous lodging, dining, and real estate properties in the region. The council is also expected to consider approving plans for a 107-room Marriott Residence Inn to be built by developer Neal Haselwander on the city’s northeast side, which also received an OK from the Plan  Commission recently. Combined, the three projects will have a total of 300 rooms offering visitors a good night’s sleep.