Hotel development coming to University of Saskatchewan

A rendering of a hotel development that will sit on the University of Saskatchewan's College Quarter land.

Visitors to the University of Saskatchewan will soon be able to stay in a hotel on campus thanks to a long-term land lease agreement announced Thursday between the university and Saskatoon-based P.R. Hotels Ltd.

The 203-room, 10-storey development will sit on the university’s College Quarter land just off College Drive near Griffiths Stadium.

Two Intercontinental Hotels Group brands will share the development. A Holiday Inn Express wing will feature 117 mid- to upper-scale rooms and a Staybridge Suites wing, featuring kitchen facilities in each of its 86 rooms, will provide longer-term guests with a place to stay.

“We are going to be up 10 stories. It’s a big structure,” said Jeff Krivoshen, director of operations for P.R. Hotels. “The only thing taller on the University of Saskatchewan campus is the Arts Building.”

Construction of the project will begin in mid-2014 and is expected to be complete by spring 2016. P.R. Hotels will assume responsibility for the capital and operating costs of the hotels, but both the university and P.R. Hotels would not release details of the land lease agreement. Krivoshen would not say how much the project will cost.

Talks of placing a hotel on College Quarter have been ongoing since at least 2010 when the university released its College Quarter Master Plan. The master plan included new student residences, which have already been built, retail spaces, a hockey rink and the hotel as potential developments on College Quarter.

The university made way for the hotel in late October when it moved a historic seed barn from a spot just off College Drive to the north side of East Road on campus.

Judy Yungwirth, director of corporate administration at the U of S, said the agreement will allow the university to continue developing in the College Quarter.

“This project allows the university to realize the first part of its vision for providing services in College Quarter while the financial benefits of the land lease will allow us to invest in further development of the College Quarter northeast precinct,” she said in a press release.

P.R. Hotels, owned by Lawrence and Patricia Rychjohn, owns and operates six other hotels including the Holiday Inn Express and the Holiday Inn Hotel in Saskatoon.

“We believe our unique two-brand approach will meet both the short- and long-term accommodation needs of university visitors and provide some great hotel options for all visitors to Saskatoon,” said Krivoshen.

The project will meet the university’s College Quarter environmental standards by featuring many green building innovations, he added.

The hotels will feature a swimming pool and water slide, a fitness centre and business centre, and four meeting rooms among other amenities.