Clover Island Inn slated for Hilton makeover
Kennewick’s Clover Island Inn will be renovated as a Spark by Hilton under a sales agreement approved with a Nevada hospitality company.
CII Hospitality LLC, a limited liability company associated with Reno-based Kishan Group, has a contract to buy the 150-room, independent hotel from Clover Island Development, the long-time ownership group led by crane company owner Bill Lampson.
The deal required the approval of the Port of Kennewick, which owns the land under the hotel, 435 Clover Island Drive.
As expected, the port’s elected commission enthusiastically approved a new, 50-year land lease with Kishan Group at its regular business session.
The new owners will pay about $6,000 a month or $72,000 per year to lease the land, with annual 3% increases.
Spark by Hilton
The lease obligates the new owners to make a good faith effort to convert the Clover Island hotel into a Spark by Hilton franchise. Spark is a new, budget-friendly Hilton brand that does not yet have a presence in Washington.
The Hilton makeover would require exhaustive renovations to bring the aging, four-story hotel up to the Spark by Hilton brand standards.
That includes a thorough cleaning, extensive repairs and new paint, finishes and hardware for interiors, exteriors and a parking lot overhaul.
No detail is too small, according to the plan, which calls for replacing ivory-colored switch plates with white ones. The property was originally built in 1977 and has been owned by the current investor group since 2001.
It has a taxable value of $3 million, according to Benton County property records.
Generally, the plan created by Hilton for the Clover Island Inn requires it to embrace upmarket amenities and shed basically all of the quirkier aspects, such as its Clover Cantina bar.
The existing garbage zone would be replaced, a television in the lobby would be removed and the space would be converted to a Hilton-approved entertainment zone.
The Kishan Group, aka CII Hospitality Group is led by principals Aalbir “Bal” Gosal and Gurdeep “Zeal” Baines, a CPA. The firm owns hotels in Alaska, Florida, Louisiana, Montana and Nevada in addition to a Best Western Plus in Silverdale, Wash.
Failed micro apartment plan
Clover Island Development attempted to sell the property in 2022 to Portland-based Fortify Holdings in 2022.
Fortify planned a $20 million project to converts its rooms into 180-200 micro apartments.
The deal foundered with the Port of Kennewick commission voted 2-1 against selling the company the land under the hotel rather than leasing the property.
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