Keizer is on its way to getting a third hotel as construction continues near Keizer Station on a new Fairfield Inn by Marriott.
The four-story hotel is anchoring a surge of development on tribal land at the southwest corner of the Chemawa freeway interchange.
Two buildings that will in part house fast-food restaurants are well underway and construction is starting on a new outlet for the Discount Tire chain.
The projects represent the second phase of development by Chemawa Station LLC. That company is a joint partnership formed in 2003 between the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.
The 7-11 store on Ulali Drive leased the first space in 2020. Chick-fil-A opened next door in August 2022.
The new hotel is being developed by Damon Kluck and Scott Knox, real estate developers from Bend. Their company, Cascade Empire Lodging, opened a Fairfield Inn in Medford in 2021.
The 92-room hotel is scheduled to open in mid-2026.
Knox, who lived in the Salem area as a child, said the developers had been planning the Keizer project for three years.
“We liked the whole Keizer Station concept,” he said.
He said another hotel in Keizer was “long overdue” as studies showed a strong need. He said the Keizer Fairfield would benefit from the growing number of sporting events in Keizer. He said the hotel also would draw travelers from Interstate 5 and people visiting family and friends in Keizer.
Keizer’s first hotel was the Wittenberg Inn, opened in about 1997 now a Best Western Premier. The Holiday Inn Express at Keizer Station was built in 2018.
At the interchange site, work continues on two buildings that also includes space for a stand-alone coffee drive-thru coffee. Developers haven’t disclosed tenants yet.
“The tenant mix is important and the target list includes quick service restaurants with drive thrus and sit down, medical, personal care services such as hair and nails,” according to Stacia Martin, co-executive officer of Chemawa Station LLC and chief of staff for the Grand Ronde.
Discount Tire will open in a lot at the corner of Ulali Drive and the road leading to the hotel. A company representative said the Keizer store could open by late 2026.
The national chain was founded with a single store in Michigan in 1960 and now counts 1,250 locations in 39 states. One in Salem on Northeast Lancaster Drive.
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