March 15, 2017

McMenamins will start hotel, brewpub soon at Port of Kalama on the Columbia

Image by the Port of Kalama [enlarge]

McMenamins will reflect Kalama’s Hawaiian heritage in the design.

The Port of Kalama commissioners have approved the final lease agreement with McMenamins for a new hotel and brewpub on port property.

The three-story, 30,000-square-foot project will include a 40-room hotel, meeting rooms, gift shop, restaurant, brewery and rooftop brewpub. A smaller, 500-square-foot pub will be a short walk away at Ahles Point.

“This is truly an incredible investment and community asset that will bring significant economic benefits to the city of Kalama by way of sales taxes and jobs,” Mark Wilson, the port's executive director, said in a statement.

Kalama is a city of 2,500 people on the Columbia River, about 30 miles north of Portland.

McMenamins will incorporate Kalama's Hawaiian heritage in designing the buildings, which will be modeled after the historic Pioneer Inn in Lahaina, Maui.

Collins Architectural Services is the architect.

The port will construct the shell and exterior, parking and landscaping, and rough in the electrical and mechanical systems. McMenamins will design and construct the interior.

Construction is expected to begin in the next 60 days.

The Columbian of Vancouver said the port awarded a $6.8 million contract to JH Kelly of Longview to build the shell. Pacific Crest Construction will complete the interior for McMenamins, according to the port.

The project cost is expected to fall between $9 million and $10 million, according to the Columbian, including $3 million McMenamins will spend on interiors. The report also said the project — first announced in March 2016 — had stalled after initial construction estimates came in higher than expected.

A McMenamins spokeswoman said opening is slated for the winter of 2018.

The Portland-based chain operates more than 50 pubs, restaurants and historic hotels in the Pacific Northwest.