Olympia port commission largely supports waterfront hotel, with one exception
The Port of Olympia commission on Tuesday was briefed on a waterfront hotel proposal, an idea that largely received their support and resulted in them asking port staff to continue looking into it.
There was one exception: “I’m less enthusiastic,” said Commissioner Krag Unsoeld during the work session.
At issue is a plot of land near the port’s Swantown Marina on East Bay. In the fall, the port sought potential development partners though a solicitation of interest, which generated three responses.
The port heard from a spa and wellness operator that would like to be a tenant in a future building, a group of consultants committed to refining the port’s plans for the site, and a hotel developer that happens to already operate the DoubleTree by Hilton in downtown Olympia.
“We actually got a response from somebody who says, ‘I’m ready, and I’m interested, and I’ve got an idea for the site,’ and that was a company by the name of Kalyan Hospitality,” said Mike Reid, the port’s community and economic development director. Reid gave Tuesday’s presentation.
Some details about the hotel proposal: A 120-room, major-brand hotel with a cafe, restaurant, rooftop bar, 10,000 square feet of meeting space, a public plaza, plus they would provide space for the Swantown Marina offices to relocate. The parcel in question currently is occupied by boats for dry storage.
What did commissioners say?
“I’m super enthusiastic about this for a number of reasons,” said Commissioner Jasmine Vasavada, including that the business has already invested in Olympia.
“This is clearly an area we both want connected to downtown,” she said, adding that it brings more amenities to the waterfront. “This should be an attractive place.”
Commissioner Unsoeld said he was less enthusiastic because it’s a major business entity for that area, which he did not envision.
“What I spoke about during my campaign was for small independent businesses to have the opportunity to see whether what they are envisioning flies or not,” he said. “And I also want to have more public access to the waterfront.”
Commissioner Joel Hansen said it seems like a responsible partnership between the port and Kalyan.
“We don’t have experience building things of this size,” he said. “We don’t have experience understanding how to make a project like this pencil. This is what they do. They have scale. They have experience.”
Commissioner Sarah Montano was supportive, too.
“They’re already invested here in our community, and see the need for this with their current business,” she said.
But she also wants to make sure the environment is protected and impacts to it are minimized.
“Of course, we have to follow sea-level rise and all the different environmental regulations,” she said. “But what can we do to go further? And how can we have that company, Kalyan, pay as much as possible for restoring the site?”
Commissioner Jerry Toompas said he welcomed such a serious offer, but he also had questions about how it might impact the culture of the Port Peninsula and whether it would attract other businesses to the site and raise the value of the land.
Next steps
Should the proposal move forward, one future step would be to enter into an exclusive negotiation period between the port and Kalyan to hammer out ground lease terms. Before a lease takes effect, it has to be approved by the commission, Reid said.
The commission does not take action in work sessions, so Reid asked for direction from them.
A majority of them told Reid to continue looking into it.
“If you end up needing more of a temperature check, but an actual affirmative vote of the commission, just bring it back to us soon,” Commissioner Vasavada said.
“I have my reservations,” Commissioner Unsoeld said.
This story was originally published January 20, 2026 at 7:17 PM.
