The year 2017 opened with the unveiling of concrete steps toward construction of what would be Powell’s largest lodging facility.

On Thursday, hotelier Steve Wahrlich of Billings announced plans for a new hotel on three lots in the Gateway West business park off West Coulter Avenue. The lots, adjacent to a new car wash facility in Gateway West, total more than four acres.

Wahrlich has been working on the project with Powell Economic Partnership assistance for the last 18 months.

“We have some good lodging in town, but we need additional and modern lodging,” said Christine Bekes, PEP executive director, at the organization’s annual meeting Thursday night. “It’s been a community priority for a long time — before PEP.”

Bekes often hears about the need, and the number of buses and others heading west to stay in Cody.

“When I go out and about and talk about what we’re doing, the number one thing I hear is, ‘That’s great, but we need a hotel,’” she said.

Wahrlich estimates development of the project, as he envisions it, will cost $6 to $7 million to construct.  His vision is a three-story hotel with 65-75 rooms and a large  conference-meeting room space to accommodate up to 200.

“What’s unique about this project is the meeting and conference room space, “ he said.  “Rarely would you see a hotel of 65-75 units with meeting room space of this size.”

It makes possible almost two businesses in one, Wahrlich said — traditional hotel room rentals on one hand and then the conference space and a catering kitchen with year-around availability for meetings and get-togethers.

The four-acre package came together with the participation of Kay Dooley of Powell, an investor in the hotel.  She purchased Lot 10 in Gateway West and committed it to the project. Wahrlich purchased the adjoining Lots 9 and 12. (See related story below).

There has only been preliminary thought about the layout on the property, but the total of four acres will make attractive landscaping possible, Wahrlich said. Architectural drawings need to move beyond the preliminary stage, he added.

With the land purchased, the next step is getting financing for the project — securing bank financing and attracting investors, Wahrlich said. He guessed that between three and eight investors would be sought.

“Any time you’re developing one of these projects,” he added, “the questions are: Can you get a bank to finance 60 to 75 percent? Can you get investors?”

Wahrlich has two operating hotel properties, the Best Western Clocktower Inn in Billings and another Best Western facility in Redding, California. He’s been in the hotel business since 1974 and has held ownership of properties since 1976.

Wahrlich emphasized that he views the Powell hotel project as a longterm hold. He pointed out that he bought his first hotel in 1976 and still owns it.

“I’m not in it to operate for six to 11 years and get out,” he said. “People have to believe in the project. They have to believe in me.”

“I’m active in the communities I’ve done business in,” he added. “I’ll be actively engaged in Powell. I’ll split time between here and Billings.”

Is Wahrlich confident the project will come together?

“I bought the land,” he said. “I don’t think I would have bought the land if I didn’t think I could get the financing. I met with the banker today (Thursday), and I felt good about the meeting.”

In his business plan, he projects the hotel will need 60 to 65 percent occupancy to be successful. He believes he will have the capacity to accommodate events hosted by the college and the schools, sporting events, meetings and conventions of professional associations and business groups.

Even if all goes well, it will take more than 15 months before the project is a reality.

Wahrlich said the ideal timetable for opening would be April of 2018, ahead of the summer travel season.

“You wouldn’t want to open in October or November of 2018,” he noted.

The hotel developer said he hasn’t determined what branding the proposed Powell facility will seek. He is associated with Best Western in his other properties and said he would look potentially at a Holiday Inn Express or a LaQuinta “or a couple others in the mid-market to upper market.”

Bekes has worked with Wahrlich for a year and a half.

“Since I started with PEP, the hotel has been on the top of my list and on the community’s strategic needs list,” she said. “This project responds to the community’s needs.”

“Steve fits Powell,” she added. “Not every developer is a longterm hold, but to Steve that is very important. He can teach us a lot. He’s not just a hotelier. He is an amazing person. He will bring experience and expertise.”

Wahrlich has made 15 to 20 trips to Powell to get to know the community. His research of the area includes reading the market study on the potential for a new hotel that was done by Greg and Rachael Anderson in 2012. The report has been turned over to PEP.

“The market study helped me to get an understanding of the project,” Bekes said, “and the importance of working with the right person who also understands our community.”

Bekes said the development of the Gateway West business park in 2005 laid the groundwork for the possibility of a hotel.

PEP Board Chairman Jeremy Gilb said economic development takes time.

“When I first moved here in 2005, the first project I worked on was the construction of Gateway West,” Gilb said at Thursday’s PEP meeting. “So to see that come to completion, with lots filling up, is really exciting. But it just takes that long.”

Getting a key piece of land for a new hotel on Powell’s western edge took some community-minded efforts from two physicians and a former board member of the Powell Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Drs. Bob Chandler and Mike Tracy, of 307Health, were the owners of Lot 10 in the Gateway West business park. The physicians purchased the lot as a potential building site for a new office building, as they prepared to leave Powell Valley Healthcare and start their own primary care practice.

It turned out they were able to buy into a new building already under construction at 250 N. Evarts St., and they located their practice there. The lot in Gateway West remained vacant.

As hotel developer Steve Wahrlich’s land search moved ahead, the conversation turned to Lot 10.

“We talked at length whether or not they (the doctors) wanted to help create the deal,” said Wahrlich.

In the end, even the sizable 2.1-acre lot was cramped.

“The problem was it would have been a sea of asphalt” to fit the hotel and parking lot on Lot 10, without any room for landscaping, Wahrlich said.

Two things then happened to solve the puzzle.

Wahrlich learned that adjoining Lot 9 (1.09 acres) and Lot 12 (1.32 acres) were available from the financial institution that owned them.

And Kay Dooley, an advocate for economic development, stepped into the picture.

“I have been involved in economic development in Powell since I came here,” Dooley said. “I was on the chamber board when the Powell Valley Economic Development Alliance went away. We really didn’t want that economic piece on the chamber’s plate, and we worked to get PEP formed.”

PEP Executive Director Christine Bekes kept her abreast of the hotel project and introduced her to Wahrlich.

“In my mind, it was really important to him to have local investors,” Dooley said.

With proceeds from the sale of family property in Montana this summer, she agreed to become an investor in the hotel. She talked to the doctors, and between them, they concluded the transaction for Lot 10, which she committed to the project.

Wahrlich then purchased Lots 9 and 12.  The hotel project suddenly had a base of more than four acres.

“I think it’s going to be a great thing for the community,” Dooley said. “The stars were aligned. It’s something the community can be proud of.”

For their part, the physicians of 307Health feel the same way; Dr. Chandler is a member of the board of the Powell Economic Partnership.

“We weren’t out to sell (Lot 10) to the highest bidder,” said Dr. Tracy. “We were interested in doing something that would benefit Powell.”