Construction to start on $47M Marriott hotel. It will be one of Tri-Cities’ largest
It’s happening.
A-1 Hospitality Group is breaking ground on its five-story AC Hotel by Marriott at the Three Rivers Convention Center on May 20.
The now-$47 million, 162-room hotel will be built in tandem with a $71.3 million convention center expansion that began in April.
The public-private partnership will modernize the convention center by adding larger spaces and more rooms to serve larger audiences and gatherings.
The hotel will be topped by a restaurant and will physically connect to the meeting center.
Officials project the expanded convention complex will bring an additional 200,000 visitors to the Tri-Cities annually, boosting demand for hotel rooms by almost 71,000 each year.
The 3 p.m. groundbreaking will be followed by a reception at the neighboring convention center, 7016 W. Grandridge Blvd., Kennewick.
Private financing
While the convention center project is public, the hotel is private.
A-1 Hospitality is financing construction with a $32 million construction loan from a credit union and a $15 million equity investment by the company, said Taran Patel, managing principal, who runs the family-owned company with his father, founder Vijay Patel.
Fowler Construction will build the AC Marriott.
The convention center expansion is being built by Lydig Construction — the contractor for the original project. The addition will add 115,000 square feet.
Pillars of tourism
The convention campus and its existing SpringHill Suites hotel are pillars of the Tri-Cities’ tourism industry.
This week, Visit Tri-Cities reported the industry drove nearly $650 million in visitor spending in Benton and Franklin counties in 2024.
Officials have long wanted to expand the convention center but it took more than a decade and three failed elections to find a way to underwrite the costs.
Kennewick voters rejected proposals that would have financed the expansion with new sales taxes in 2013, 2016 and 2017.
The final package does not involved new taxes. Rather, the Kennewick Public Facilities District will sell bonds to cover the cost.
The bond debt will be repaid through a sales tax rebate created by the Washington Legislature decades ago to pay for public facilities district and build a new home for the Seattle Mariners, then called Safeco Field.
Convention center earnings also will support debt payments.
This story was originally published May 8, 2025 at 11:49 AM.