Construction may begin on a new hotel in John Day as early as March 2020.

The hotel will be located near the Oregon Pine Property east of Patterson Bridge Road. The city plans to sell 1.7 acres of land it owns at the site for $74,052 — $1 per square foot — to facilitate the deal, according to City Manager Nick Green.

“The city will hold a public hearing before the John Day Planning Commission related to the land partition of the Oregon Pine property and site design for the future hotel,” said Green. “If the planning commission approves the site design and land partition, the city council will then hold a public hearing on the sale of the property. We are going to try and hold that meeting immediately following the planning commission hearing.”

Notice of the hearing will be published in the Blue Mountain Eagle 21 days prior to the meeting. The goal is to schedule these hearings in February.

There will possibly be a study session with the planning commission in January to review the application materials and address any concerns in preparation for the public hearing in February, according to Green.

“Site design review will include a traffic impact analysis, which has to be reviewed by Oregon Department of Transportation since access to the hotel is from a state highway,” Green said. “ODOT staff have been consulted on the preliminary design, but the final application will not be submitted for their review until the traffic impact analysis is complete in early to mid-January.”

If all approvals have been met, the hotel group will be able to go into construction in March 2020.