PENDLETON — The Minnesota-based Radisson Hotel Group Americas announced its affiliation with the 75-room hotel project in development at the Pendleton airport, according to a Tuesday, May 25, press release.

In the statement, Raddison called Pendleton a “quaint town” with a “booming tourism industry,” before highlighting the region’s outdoor recreation opportunities and the Pendleton Round-Up.

“We are very excited to continue our momentum growing our exceptional portfolio of hotels in the West Coast, while building an amazing relationship with Makad Corp.,” Phil Hugh, Radisson chief development officer, said in a statement. “The international development expertise brought by Makad Corp. will make this hotel a true destination in Pendleton that is guaranteed to bring guests back time and again.”

Makad Corp., a Vancouver, Washington-based business, has been considering developing a hotel at the airport since 2015, but the project didn’t break ground until several weeks ago. When the city of Pendleton agreed to lease a former section of the airport parking lot to Makad Corp. for the hotel in 2018, local officials said the company had an agreement with a “global hotel franchise provider,” but the franchise wasn’t revealed at the time.

In the press release, Radisson stated the hotel will include a restaurant, bar, lounge, fitness center and meeting space.

“I am very proud of our integrated development team working closely with Radisson Hotel Group Americas and the city of Pendleton,” Makad Corp. CEO Elie Makad said in a statement. “Makad Corp. is committed to technology, green and alternative energy, hospitality, logistics and data collection and this hotel fits that perfectly.”

Makad Corp.’s development history in Eastern Oregon is mixed. While the company developed the River Lodge in Boardman, other projects at the Port of Morrow either failed to get off the ground or got tied up in a lawsuit. Another Pendleton project proposed in 2015, a data center on the Airport Road extension, has yet to break ground.