(Estherville)– Plans to build a new 62-unit motel in Estherville were made public Tuesday.
Badger Midwest Holdings and a group of local investors known as the “Estherville Hotel Group” announced a Sleep Inn and Suites Hotel will be constructed on Highway nine next to the new North Star Bank on Estherville’s east side. Sleep Inn and Suites is a subsidiary of the Choice Motels franchise.
Bjorn Kaashagen of Badger Midwest Holdings says the project has been in the talking stages two years already, and that things finally came together for the project just recently.
Kaashagen says they’re still in the process of lining up 850-thousand dollars in local capital for the 3.3 million dollar project. Kaashagen says about half of that has been raised so far. Financing is also coming from North Star Bank of Estherville.
The project is under a very aggressive timeframe. Construction will start next week weather permitting, with a grand opening planned for early this coming June.
The hotel will feature an indoor swimming pool with whirlpool, exercise area, game room, meeting room for 50 to 60 people, an executive board room, coin-operated laundry, free high speed internet in each room and a free enhanced continental breakfast each morning.
The hotel will be constructed near the new Regional Wellness Center, which is nearing completion. Along that line, the Estherville Hotel Group Tuesday donated 50-thousand dollars and Badger Midwest contributed 25-thousand to the project.
