Sherman Tower tops off as downtown Coeur d'Alene project advances

Hagadone Hospitality has topped off the Sherman Tower, a 16-story hotel rising on the downtown Coeur d’Alene block between First and Second streets, and the project is now moving deeper into the phase that will add 139 rooms to The Coeur d’Alene Resort.

The tower sits at the northwest corner of N. 1st Street and Sherman Avenue, in one of the most visible corners of downtown. Resort materials say the building is designed to give every guestroom lake views with a private balcony, a layout aimed squarely at leisure travelers in a market already anchored by the resort’s waterfront profile.

The project is more than a vertical addition. A 139-room expansion at The Coeur d’Alene Resort means more overnight guests, more restaurant traffic, and more daytime spillover onto Sherman Avenue and the surrounding blocks. KREM described the resort as the Newsweek-ranked No. 1 Waterfront Hotel, a status that gives the new tower added leverage with higher-end visitors who are likely to spend at nearby shops, bars and eateries.

The downtown setting also raises the stakes for parking and congestion. Hagadone’s project materials show the tower is being built with the expectation of a larger arrival flow, and later coverage said a parking garage would be part of the buildout. With the site tucked into the heart of downtown rather than spread across a resort campus, the new rooms will put more pressure on curb space, nearby lots and pedestrian traffic along Sherman Avenue.

City planners had already cleared the way for the project. On March 28, 2024, the Coeur d’Alene Design Review Commission unanimously approved the tower, then described as a 15-story hotel with a 6,000-square-foot component. The resort’s own tower page, first posted Jan. 18, 2024 and updated in April 2024, says the building rises 15 stories above the shoreline and offers unobstructed views of Lake Coeur d’Alene from every guestroom.

The timing matters for downtown redevelopment around an older core. The Johnston Building at Second Street and Sherman Avenue, nearly 120 years old, stands in the same stretch of downtown that is changing fastest. Later coverage said Sherman Tower and another downtown hotel project were expected to wrap in 2027, a pace that would keep construction activity, visitor spending and redevelopment pressure concentrated around the Sherman Avenue corridor for the next year and beyond.