Officials celebrate construction on high-end Kennewick hotel
A-1 Hospitality broke ground on its AC Marriott Hotel on May 20 as part of the Three Rivers Convention Center expansion. Taran Patel, left, is A-1 Hospitality’s managing principal, and Vijay Patel, right, is president.
Dirt is starting to move for a high-end hotel in the middle of Kennewick’s commercial center as part of the vision for the Three Rivers Convention Center expansion.
A-1 Hospitality, which runs Pasco’s Holiday Inn Express and the Courtyard by Marriott, is getting ready to build an AC Marriott Hotel just east of the convention center.
The hotel will be five stories, with the fifth floor as a restaurant and rooftop bar, said Taran Patel, A-1 Hospitality Group’s managing principal, at the May 20 groundbreaking event. It’s envisioned as a place for the local community to take advantage of, whether that’s convention attendees or sports fans.
The application for a construction permit filed with the city of Kennewick in December lists the hotel as 118,623 square feet with a price tag of $38 million.
Idaho Central Credit Union and Bellevue Capital helped with the project’s financing, and Fowler Construction is the general contractor for the project as well as a partner.
The hotel was originally planned in 2018 alongside the expansion of the Three Rivers Convention Center, said Vijay Patel, president of A-1 Hospitality and A-1 Pearl, at the event. But the Covid-19 pandemic stalled the project.
That break may have saved the project, too.
While the Patels originally hoped for an AC Marriott, the Marriott team didn’t think the Tri-Cities market was ready and suggested the Loft brand instead. When A-1 reached back out to Marriott after the pandemic, the company sent a team to visit the Tri-Cities and approved the AC-branded endeavor.
“This project really exemplified what’s possible when public-private sectors join forces,” said Erin Erdman, Kennewick’s city manager, at the event.
The city of Kennewick and the Kennewick Public Facilities District worked closely with A-1 in developing the hotel.
Kennewick Mayor Gretl Crawford declared AC Hotel by Marriott to be the business of the day May 20, 2025.
“We’re excited for a great gathering place for local community members to come out, gather, relax, unwind,” Taran Patel said.
