New 134-room Holiday Inn hotel proposed for East Colorado Street

A developer is looking to replace a gym on Colorado Street with a Holiday Inn down the street from a series of older hotels and motels that a city official hopes could be inspired by the new project to upgrade their own buildings.

An application was submitted last week to build a four-story, 50-foot-high Holiday Inn Suites with 134 rooms at 1001 E. Colorado St., said planner Vilia Zemaitaitis.

A World Gym is currently located at that address.

Zemaitaitis said the application seeks a variance to build a four-story structure because zoning in the area permits only three.

Phil Lanzafame, the city’s economic development director, said the newly announced plans speak to the strengths of the local economy and could lead to more hospitality improvements or development along that stretch of Colorado.

A number of hotels and motels Lanzafame described as older are located farther east on Colorado, near Glendale’s border with Eagle Rock.

“In a way, [the new hotel] sets the tone where you can upgrade those hotels and attract visitors to Glendale that will be using our goods and services and support the local economy and create jobs. That’s all good stuff,” he said.

Aram Alajajian, an architect for the project, declined to comment on additional project plans, which will gradually emerge as the proposed hotel project makes its way through City Hall.

Zemaitaitis said the project will have to undergo an environmental review and go before a planning hearing officer, though a firm timeline has yet to be established.

In the tri-city area, Glendale has been underrepresented when it comes to hospitality, Lanzafame said, but that has been changing with the opening of an Embassy Suites on Central Avenue and construction of a Hampton Inn & Suites — also on Colorado — getting underway.

By Arin Mikailian, arin.mikailian@latimes.com

Reported by:  GlendaleNewsPress.com