Fairfield Inn & Suites breaks ground in Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — Visitors in Moses Lake will soon have a new hotel option for their overnight stays.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held Monday in the vacant property on Maiers Road at the site of what will soon be a Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott. The hotel will be three stories tall and will have 84 rooms, according to developer John Ferguson.

Ferguson is a manager for Ferguson Hotel and Development Company and a general partner in the hotel development venture in Moses Lake. He has been a franchisee for Marriott since 1989.

The new Fairfield Inn & Suites in Moses Lake will operate as a Marriott franchise once its construction is completed and it opens its doors to guests. Ferguson said the location in Moses Lake is perfect because of the city’s many resources, opportunities for growth and friendly community atmosphere.

“Number one, you have I-90. You have (Highway) 17, you have the airport, you have a group of companies like … Mitsubishi and others that are out here that are going to have a lot of visitors,” he said. “And those are usually visitors that have a higher per diem to spend, so they can afford to move up a little bit in the limited-service (class), which is what we are going to be.”

Hotels that fall in the limited-service class are typically geared toward travelers who are more budget-conscious. They do not offer as many amenities as full-service hotels, but they typically have lower room rates.

The 84-room Fairfield Inn & Suites in Moses Lake will include 86 parking spaces, food preparations and a breakfast area, a pool, meeting rooms, laundry facilities and a patron market, according to the building plans that were submitted to the city in 2015.

Ferguson added it is not only Moses Lake’s current transportation and economic qualities that make the city attractive for hotel development, but also its opportunities.

“Then you have water here, which is at critical mass. I think water is critical in the world today, and so you have room to take more companies,” he said. “And you have low-cost energy. And you have good weather … so you have just so many things going on.”

But it is the people who make a community, and Ferguson said Moses Lake shines through that lens, too.

“The folks that live here are just so friendly,” Ferguson said. “They have to be that way with everybody, not just me.”

The Fairfield Inn & Suites is being constructed at 2420 S. Maiers Rd., meaning it will be situated among the cluster of other hotels near I-90 and Highway 17. Ferguson said the new hotel will help elevate the community and could be a benefit to its competing lodging businesses.

“I think that all we are going to do is bring more people to the area, so even though they (hotels) are all in a row here, we will continue to fill them,” he said.

With the opportunity for growth Ferguson sees in Moses Lake, he said he is already thinking the 84-room Fairfield will be “too small” to meet demand in the coming years. In the event that he is right, he said he would build another hotel in town rather than expanding this one.

“You have so many pluses and very few negatives here,” Ferguson said. “I think it (the city) is going to grow like a weed.

“We are glad to be here.”

Moses Lake Deputy Mayor Karen Liebrecht spoke briefly before the official groundbreaking Monday. Liebrecht thanked the Grant County Economic Development Council, the city of Moses Lake, and others who were involved in the efforts that resulted in the new hotel development. She also thanked Ferguson for bringing his operations to the city.

“I want to thank you for your faith in our community,” Liebrecht said. “We are very diverse and we are unique in so many ways and we think that’s something that will always bring visitors back to Moses Lake and want to sustain your venture here.”

Ryan Minnerly can be reached via email at countygvt@columbiabasinherald.com.