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Consultants tell Sandy: data show demand for lodging, select-service hotel most viable
Summary
A hotel market study presented to the Sandy Economic Development Committee finds roughly 88,000 overnight stays in Sandy annually but only about 55,000 paid room nights available locally, creating a 37% leakage. Consultants modeled a 90-room select-service hotel as the most viable option but flagged a roughly $1.8 million early financing gap and dependence on site and incentive choices.
Jackie, a senior associate at Healthy Sustainable Communities, presented the Sandy Hotel study and financial modeling results, telling the committee that Sandy records roughly 88,000 visitor overnight stays annually while local paid accommodation capacity is only about 55,000 room nights. "Sandy records roughly 88,000 visit nights from, visitors out of town staying in the city every year," Jackie said, and added that the resulting leakage suggests local demand could support more commercial lodging.
Using industry benchmarks and a 90-room modeling scenario, Jackie said select-service hotels (midscale/upper-midscale brands) are the only type that became viable under the study assumptions. Key model assumptions included a four-year occupancy ramp to 60%, a three-year property-tax abatement (enterprise-zone assumption), and an estimated early funding gap in the order of $1.8 million that the board would need to address through incentives or other tools.
Committee members probed alternatives, and Jackie presented an outdoor-hospitality option (cabins, yurts, Airstreams) that requires less capital and, in many modeled cases, no public gap financing, though it would demand larger parcels and produce lower long-term fiscal impact. Members also discussed phased approaches and the prospect of marketing the study to hotel operators; Jackie recommended that the board review the Sandy Enterprise Zone and consider urban-renewal or fee-relief tools to improve project feasibility.
