An iconic downtown building is set to become Bend’s newest boutique hotel. Plans have been approved to renovate the old main post office building on the corner of Wall St. and Franklin Ave.
The post office was built in 1932, then added to the national register of historical places in 1985.
“The vision was to create a really awesome kind of landmark,” architect Brian Emerick said.
The project is the brainchild of Oregonian Gil Burgess and his partner. He says they’re looking to expand on the character of the rapidly growing downtown area.
“Lovingly restore and preserve the historic elements of the property while also adapting it for use,” Burgess said of the vision.
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Burgess is targeting a June 2025 grand opening and expects construction to begin in the first half of 2024.
“It’s not, you know, your big box hotel where you can just kind of cookie cutter out a design,” Emerick said. “On the outside It’s going to look very similar. It’s just going to get really a big once-over.”
On the inside, plans for a new lobby and bar, including unique rooms on the second floor and basement levels.
A number of the rooms will have patios as large as 300 sq. feet, some with their own dedicated firepits.
“Its going to be a beautiful sight,” Burgess said. “There’s so much development going on and it’s important to us again to do something that’s additive to the old downtown brand experience and not something that detracts from the beauty that’s already there.”
