Business

The owners of a west Mesa Holiday Inn plan to build a Candlewood Suites Hotel next door in their parking lot, but a dearth of parking spaces could become an issue.

Royal Investment Group proposed the extended-stay hotel in a Sept. 29 pre-submittal to Mesa's Planning Department, one of only a handful of projects filed in the past few months.

"It will be very nice. It will complement our hotel," said Ken Sliwa, manager of the Holiday Inn at Country Club Drive and U.S. 60. "It's going to upgrade everything. It will upgrade the image of this location."

Royal, also the Holiday Inn's owner, is investing $3.5 million in a major renovation of the 26-year-old property with 247 rooms, he said. The renovations are 90 percent complete.

The last major renovation was a decade ago and cost a previous owner $5 million.

Sliwa said the Candlewood Suites would offer customers an option. Guests would be welcome to use the Holiday Inn's facilities, including a pool, restaurant and meeting rooms.

"It's like your own apartment, basically," for guests staying for a week or a month. "It will probably be one of the new prototypes. There's only several in the country."

Robert Brinton, president of the Mesa Convention and Visitors Bureau, said he is glad to hear Royal is moving forward with its plans.

"Adding more suites properties is a good thing for Mesa," Brinton said, with suites commonplace elsewhere in the Valley but not in Mesa. "We're obviously looking to improve the quality of hotels in Mesa."

Other suites in the area include a Residence Inn near Fiesta Mall and an Extended Stay America near Baseline Road and Country Club.

The plans were filed by architect Gerald Rembowski of Fairlawn, Ohio. Rembowski declined comment, saying the proposal is in its earliest stages.