New hotel jump-starts east downtown

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Downtown’s east side just landed a real anchor.

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The old Holiday Inn has officially flipped into the Wildbirch Hotel, and it’s bringing some much-needed energy to a stretch of downtown that’s been overlooked for years. The remodel turned the property into a 252-room boutique hotel built to attract both visitors and locals.

Inside, the new Crimson restaurant and coffee shop give the neighborhood fresh places to land, instead of pushing people back toward the main core. They also locked in a partnership with Midnight Sun Brewing, which adds a familiar local draw right on the east side.

This corner has been waiting for a project with enough weight to shift the vibe, and this one finally has the size to do it.

A strong hotel presence tends to pull more investment, and early signs point to that ripple already beginning. If momentum holds, this could be the project that starts rewriting the east-side story.

East downtown might finally be turning a corner.