GrandStay, Jethro’s will anchor development

(Above) A conceptual drawing of the GrandStay Hotel and conference center to be built in Clear Lake.

by Marianne Gasaway

A GrandStay Hotel and conference center, along with a Jethro’s BBQ restaurant, will anchor Clear Lake’s new Courtway Park development on 5.8 acres east of Interstate 35.

The Clear Lake City Council unanimously and enthusiastically approved an economic development agreement with the parties Monday night.

GrandStay Hospitality President Jon Kennedy and David Harchanko, of Apollo Development, were on hand to speak with the Council and share their vision for the $16 million project.

“We’re a lifestyle brand and we will depict the lifestyle of your community and propel the marketing of your community to the world,” Kennedy told the Council.  “We can advertise, we can go up against Marriott or you name it, whoever is out there, with our product and our name, and that will give you tremendous exposure.”

GrandStay Hospitality, based in Minneapolis, Minn., has 34 hotels throughout the Midwest.  Clear Lake will be the third Iowa location for the hotel, joining Ames and Rock Valley.  Approximately one-half of its properties are located in  Minnesota, with others reaching neighboring Wisconsin, Illinois, North and South Dakota, and extend-

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ing as far west as Oregon and east to Michigan.

The Clear Lake hotel is expected to use a contemporary motif.

“We feel this location is not as rural as Rock Valley, where a high-pitched roof and a more residential scale type building might be just appropriate, but with the highway location, proximity to larger populations, we feel a more sophisticated product is going to be a better fit for this location in this site,” explained Harchanko.

Kennedy noted a photo of a Clear Lake dock which hangs behind where the Council is seated may be the perfect mural to fill a wall in the hotel’s breakfast area.

The Clear Lake property will have 75 guest rooms.  A 5,000 square foot convention center will be located across a courtyard which likely feature outdoor seating, possible fire pits and other outdoor amenities.

According to Kennedy, GrandStay is experiencing a growth phase and is receiving consistent strong reviews from a growing customer base.

“We’re kind of like Culver’s, we’re kind of just starting to get going. We’re known as a very good quality product. There’s a company called Revinate that we subscribe to, and reputation management is what it’s all about in our industry today. Our Revinate scores, where we collect all the third-party customer comments from every resource we can find, you’ll find out that the GrandStay name is one of the top tiers of the whole industry, no matter what branch it is. We’ve got data to show you that’ll back that up.”

Des Moines based Jethro’s Restaurant will be making its first venture into North Iowa.  It currently has eight locations in the greater Des Moines area and Ames.

Founder and owner Bruce Gerleman could not attend Monday’s  meeting, however he asked City Administrator Scott Flory to express his excitement about the project.  Flory noted terms are still being finalized for the restaurant, which will be built in the southwest portion of the development.

“It is very significant for us to add an iconic Iowa chain,” added Flory.

Clear Lake’s economic development plan with WillowStream LLC calls for construction of a hotel, conference center and restaurant project of not less than $4.5 million in taxable valuation during years one through four to qualify for a $4 million foregivable loan.  During years five through eight, it would be not less than $5 million taxable. In years eight through 12, it would be not less than $5.5 million taxable. Not less than 25 full-time equivalent jobs must be produced.

Groundbreaking for the project is scheduled for early next month, with completion no later than November 2020.

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