A 64-room hotel is coming to this Bellingham neighborhood

A new five-story, 64-bedroom hotel is on its way to Fairhaven after a plan by the city was approved in September.

Tentatively known as Fairhaven Sycamore Hotel, the development on the corner of 12th Street and Donovan Avenue also includes eight, two-bedroom residential units on the upper floor, a ballroom/conference room space and a ground-floor restaurant area.

“We want to make sure we are realizing the potential in this area and getting a mix of uses — places to live, work and recreate,” said city of Bellingham Development Services Manager Kurt Nabbefeld in a telephone interview with The Bellingham Herald.

An existing two-story building on the property will be demolished ahead of the project’s start. The development will also include 75 new parking spots in a two-level garage beneath the hotel. That parking will be accessible from Donovan Street.

“Fairhaven is a tourist destination so having hotel room capacity there is important,” Nabbefeld said.

An alleyway, various sidewalk improvements, landscaping and tree planting will also be done to complement the project.

This is one of a wide variety of development projects throughout Bellingham that ensure the city is planning for housing at all levels of income, according to Nabbefeld.

“We’ve seen mixed-use buildings like this in other locations like Seattle. The suites up top will have a nice water view and view of the area,” Nabbefeld.

Community members expressed concerns regarding the amount of traffic and noise the development could bring to the area. However, a city analysis was done to confirm that 12th Street and Donovan Avenue are already built to manage higher levels of traffic.

“The way the streets are now — the infrastructure is already in place to support this level of traffic. If it weren’t, there would have been additional mitigation measures required,” Nabbefeld said.

The developer hasn’t broken ground yet, so the exact timeframe for construction is unclear. But a project of this size could take anywhere from 12 to 18 months to construct, according to Nabbefeld.

The owner of the property is 1514 12th St LLC. The project was designed by MZA Architecture based in Bellevue.

This story was originally published November 3, 2022 at 5:00 AM.

Rachel Showalter

The Bellingham Herald

360-715-2212

Rachel Showalter graduated Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in 2019 with a degree in journalism. She spent nearly four years working in radio, TV and broadcast on the West Coast of California before joining The Bellingham Herald in August 2022. She lives in Bellingham.