Team breaks ground on the new Hotel Ava downtown
–Owner/developer Debbie VanSteenwyck and her team broke ground Wednesday afternoon for the 151-room Ava Hotel in Paso Robles. The Ava Hotel is to be built at 944 Pine Street, where Hayward Lumber was located. The hotel will include a restaurant, a roof-top lounge, a pool and other amenities. Parking on the property will accommodate the needs of hotel visitors, guests and locals dining at the hotel restaurant.
“Ava” relates to American Viticulture Area (A.V.A.). Debbie VanSteenwyck says, “It’s a tribute to our agricultural and industrial roots.”
Excavation will begin in the next two weeks. VanSteenwyck says it will take 24 months to complete construction of the 105,195 square foot hotel. Two large oak trees standing in the center of the lot will be incorporated into the landscape. “We’re very sensitive to our oak trees,” said VanSteenwyck. “We’re going to hand-dig all our footings around the oak trees. There won’t be any tractor work underneath. The entire hotel was designed to save these oaks. One of my big things was to save all the oak trees on Pine Street. I want to try to keep as many trees as possible, because it takes so long for them to grow.”
A report by Paso Robles city staff describes the project as “an innovative infill and reuse project that would develop an underutilized area next to the downtown core. The project will provide an anchor on the south end of downtown and provide a pedestrian oriented connection between the Transportation Center and downtown.”
At the groundbreaking Wednesday afternoon, VanSteenwyck told PRDN, “This is very exciting. I’ve been working on it for five years. For it to come to life is just amazing.”
The Ava Hotel may open for business in the spring of 2021.
