Cavanaugh’s Plans Seattle Hotel Goodale & Barbieri To Buy Former Bank Building, Turn It Into 280-Room Hotel

Reversing the traditional flow of capital in Washington, Spokane’s Goodale & Barbieri Cos. has agreed to purchase and renovate a prime piece of downtown Seattle real estate.

G&B, a diversified development company with operations ranging from hotels to a dairy, purchased a 20-story building in the heart of Seattle’s downtown retail zone to develop a 280-room Cavanaugh’s Inn. The sale will close at the end of June.

The hotel, which will feature two levels of underground parking and 100,000 square feet of retail and business space, is part of a West Side expansion for G&B, a Spokane family business since 1937.

Construction of Cavanaugh’s Inn on Fifth Avenue, 1415 Fifth Ave., is likely to be complete by July 1996, G&B president Don Barbieri announced Tuesday.

Downtown Seattle is known for its national caliber upscale hotels, such as the Olympic Four Seasons, Westin Hotel/Seattle and Seattle Hilton Downtown. But Barbieri said the more affordable Cavanaugh’s will not try to compete directly with those chains.

“It’s less expensive … than a Four Seasons but it will have all the amenities as the Inn at the Park. This is not a luxury-priced hotel, but it will be top of the line,” Barbieri said.

Neither G&B, parent company of the Spokane-based Cavanaugh’s chain, nor U.S. Bank would disclose a price on the building.

The granite and glass tower - headquarters for U.S. Bank until 1993 - is situated in the center of a two-block radius of an upscale retail and office corridor. The hotel will be within a quick walk of Nordstrom, NikeTown and the Seattle Concert Hall.

Barbieri hopes Cavanaugh’s Seattle hotel will cater to corporate groups, independent travelers and national tour groups. He added that G&B will begin courting international business clients with the new hotel.

“In Spokane, we have not been strong in the Far East and international trade organizations, and as we move into Seattle, we’re going to up our learning curve for that market,” Barbieri said.

The hotel, located between Pike and Union, will be G&B’s eighth Cavanaugh’s Inn. In addition to four Spokane sites, the chain has hotels in Yakima, Kennewick and Kalispell.

G&B also owns Crescent Court, Broadview Dairy and a ticket reservations service. The company manages University City shopping center, Washington Trust Financial Center, the IBM Building and the Lincoln Building in Spokane, as well as Kalispell Center Mall and Palouse Empire Mall in Moscow.

G&B’s new Seattle building - empty except for a small division of U.S. Bank that will vacate by August - will house the first Cavanaugh’s west of the Cascades. Barbieri said the hotel is part of a strategy to develop his company’s retail and hospitality market along the Interstate 5 corridor.

“It’s clear to us that we’re going to have to find good opportunities in Portland, Seattle and Bellevue. As we move down through the next five years, we’re going to give that market more of our attention,” Barbieri said.

Barbieri has been an advocate of public-private partnerships in Spokane, such as the Wall Street Trolley project and current downtown renovation plan. But he said G&B will not use grants or taxpayer money to fund the Seattle project. Compass Group Inc. and Northwest Building Trade Pension Funds are providing financing.

Seattle’s business community welcomed the deal. U.S. Bank put the building up for sale in 1993 and moved its headquarters across the street, but it took more than 2 years of negotiations with several prospective purchasers to finalize the sale.

“We’re thrilled because it’s been sitting empty, and a lot of exciting things are going on around that area,” said Julie Joy, public relations director at U.S. Bank.

Officials touted the project as an essential part of downtown Seattle’s revitalization.

“This project will be an important addition to the many exciting developments already under way or planned for downtown Seattle,” Seattle Mayor Norm Rice said in a faxed statement.

G&B plans to maintain the building’s facade and make changes to the lobbies and entrance, Barbieri said. The Seattle office of Northwest Architectural Co. is providing design services and Goebel Construction of Seattle is in charge of building.