Benchmark, a global hospitality company, is expanding its presence in the Pacific Northwest and will operate the newly announced Avenue Bellevue InterContinental Hotel. Part of a new billion-dollar condo, hotel and retail development in downtown Bellevue, Wash., the new property will be InterContinental Hotels & Resorts’ first venture in the Pacific Northwest.
With construction set to start in mid-2019, the two-tower development will offer 332 luxury residences and 85,000 square feet of retail, food and nightlife. Avenue Bellevue also will include a 252-room InterContinental Hotel, which will include a full-service spa, fitness center, meeting space and other amenities.
“We are tremendously proud to be part of this visionary project and to welcome InterContinental Hotels into the Benchmark management portfolio,” Alex Cabañas, Benchmark’s CEO, said in a statement. “It is thrilling to be part of this thriving global city that is home to some of the world’s most innovative technology companies and equally welcoming to new startups and smaller businesses.”
The hotel was designed in partnership with Seattle-based architecture firm Weber Thompson and hospitality design firm HBA, Avenue Bellevue residents will have access to the InterContinental Hotel amenities, including roomservice, housekeeping service, spa, fitness center, concierge assistance and valet parking. Fortress Development, a commercial real estate developer and privately held investment company based in Bellevue, is developing the hotel. The company's CEO and principal, Andy Lakha, is a longtime Bellevue resident.
"Growing up in Pakistan, my entire world view of luxury was shaped by the InterContinental Hotel in Karachi, which at the time was the country's only five-star hotel,” Lakha said in a statement. “I am delighted to be able to introduce this revered luxury brand to the Pacific Northwest for the first time."