Friday marked the opening of the $185 million Bellevue Hyatt Regency expansion. The hotel now offers 60,000 square feet of event space and 733 guest rooms, making it an attractive destination for larger events.
What you’ll notice when you visit the new expansion is the 2-story Koa wood accent wall that takes over the Wintergarden lobby space and the Ambar stone grand staircase that accompanies it. Throughout the hallways of the expansion you’ll see beautiful artwork from well-known local artists.
The highlight from the expansion, besides its visual presence in the Wintergarden, is the 17,745 square-foot Grand Ballroom with 23-foot high ceilings and 48 custom drop-glass chandeliers. In addition to the Grand Ballroom, the Evergreen Ballroom provides a 13,755 square-foot ballroom, which will play host to events for Bellevue Fashion Week 2009. The Executive Auditorium, also a unique part of the expansion, will provide 135 sloped seats (equipped with power stations) to be used for seminars and presentations. All event spaces are well equipped with state-of-the-art technology.
Friday morning a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to commemorate the grand opening of the Bellevue Place expansion. Many executives from both Kemper Development Co. and the Hyatt Regency were there to partake in the event. There were also many community members there to help celebrate as well. One member of the community who seemed to be missing from the event was Kemper Freeman Jr. himself, who was there in November to celebrate the topping off of the project.
The project was projected to be done in July 2009 and was completed just in the nick of time on July 31st. A project of this scale to be completed on time is significant, as many are typically pushed back. Although we are still within uncertain financial times, the updated Bellevue Hyatt Regency promises to be a favorable venue to house new events looking for large event spaces and hundreds of guests visiting Seattle or the Eastside, now and in the future.
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