Proposed five-story, 173-room Hilton hotel eyed for Coeur d'Alene site

At the bend of West Lee Court and West West Appleway Avenue in Coeur d’Alene, plans call for a five-story, 173-room Hilton Dual Brand Hotel on a 2.71-acre vacant parcel owned by The Wealth Hospital Group, with a building footprint of 98,981 square feet and an estimated project cost of $18.5 million. The site sits a short distance from Interstate 90 and Kootenai Health, positioning the development along a busy Appleway corridor that city officials have watched for new commercial projects.

Hagadone News Network reported the Coeur d’Alene Design Review Commission unanimously approved the design during its noon meeting Feb. 26, while the Coeur d’Alene Press had earlier reported the DRC was scheduled to consider the design package at a noon meeting at City Hall. The DRC associate planner Tami Stroud described the concept by saying, "There will be two hotels in one building," reflecting the project's Hilton Dual Brand approach as presented in city design materials.

Project specifications in the public renderings and coverage list an average building height of about 66 feet and 177 on-site parking stalls. Amenities shown on the north and south elevations include a large outdoor patio on the north side and a pool and fitness center on the south side, plus interior meeting and dining spaces described as having "large spans of storefront allowing natural light to fill the areas."

Ownership and design credits in circulation diverge slightly. Coverage from the Coeur d’Alene Press identifies Richardson Design Partnership, LLC, based in Salt Lake City, as the project architect, while a Hagadone rendering caption credits "Richard Design Partnership." The rendering caption used by Hagadone explicitly reads, "A Richard Design Partnership rendering of a proposed hotel to be built along West Lee Court and West Appleway Avenue."

If it proceeds beyond design review, the Hilton Dual Brand proposal would join three other hotel projects cited in local coverage, making four hotels either under construction or in planning in Coeur d’Alene. Those cited projects include Marriott hotels at Sixth and Sherman and at Northwest Boulevard, and Hagadone Hospitality Co.’s Sherman Tower, described as a 15-story, 139-room project near The Coeur d’Alene Resort.

Several material details were not included in the published excerpts: no specific developer or hotel operator beyond landowner The Wealth Hospital Group was named, no construction schedule or estimated opening date was provided, and no Hilton sub-brands were specified. Coverage also did not include financing details, permit timetables, or any conditions of approval from the DRC in the excerpts provided.

The proposal would add 173 rooms and nearly 99,000 square feet of lodging at a central Appleway site, reshaping lodging capacity near I-90 and Kootenai Health. City Design Review Commission records and municipal permit filings will provide the official vote record, any conditions attached to approval, and the next administrative steps for the project.