BURBANK, CA—R.D. Olson Development has completed construction on the Marriott SpringHill Suites in Downtown Burbank, a 102,075-square-foot, 170-room hotel. The developer marked the occasion with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, attended by Marriott International and City of Burbank civic leaders.

“The idea was that we could energize that space along San Fernando Blvd. It was a block-to-block space, which doesn't come along very often. It is walking distance to Downtown Burbank and it hits the leisure traveler and business travelers,” Jonathon Vopinek, VP of asset management at R.D. Olson Development, tells GlobeSt.com. “We spent a lot of time on the interior of the property and trying to honor the City of Burbank and the entertainment and media industries that have shaped Burbank. We think what we produced really fits the market and what customers in Burbank really want.”

In conjunction with the opening, the developer has entered into a sales agreement with Apple REIT, which owns the nearby Residence Inn. The sales price has not been disclosed. According to Vopinek, the developer's business plan was to hold the property for the long-term. “We only develop to own long term, but the synergies here with Apple owning the Residence Inn across the street and Marriott managing both, they were able to get some cost efficiencies on the property that we wouldn't have been able to get as a separate owner,” he says. “It made a lot for sense for them to pick this property up.”

The property features a state-of-the-art fitness center, outdoor space with a swimming pool and fire pits and interior rooms with kitchenettes and high-speed wifi internet. The design of the hotel pays tribute to the surrounding area, and was designed to cater to the business and leisure travelers that frequent the area.

R.D. Olson is under construction on several other hotel projects, including 144-room Residence Inn by Marriott in Old Town Pasadena; a 200-room Residence Inn by Marriott in Wailea, Maui, Hawaii; 130-room boutique Lido House Hotel in Newport Beach; 250-room, beach-inspired Paséa Hotel & Spa in Huntington Beach. According to Vopinek, the developer tailors the design of each hotel to the city and area. If you plucked any of the developments and moved them to another city, they would look out of place, he says.