The construction site of the Winter Plaza next to the Hotel Frisco will be shown on Thursday, November 4th. The crews dug a hole too close to the foundation of the hotel and also damaged the wall on the second floor. The developer of the project is Broadstroke Design, Inc.
Jenna deJong / Summit Daily News

The development of the Winter Plaza along Main Street of Frisco is in full swing, but the construction is causing some problems for the Hotel Frisco.

On October 4th, an excavator used on the Winter Plaza project ran into the side of the Hotel Frisco and penetrated the wall of the communal area on the second floor. Fortunately, no one was injured inside the building, although a Frisco employee heard and felt the collision.

“We believe it was an accident that resulted in the excavator ramming into the hotel,” said Brad Hovis, owner of Hotel Frisco.

Immediately afterwards, Hovis said his team noticed that the construction crews were digging near the building and that they had crossed its property line – an orange spray paint that was placed on the ground and marked about 5 feet from the edge of the building. His team noticed that that day the crews had crossed the line and were digging a large hole that adjoined the building.

When Hovis got there, the group did a preliminary site assessment and decided to proceed with caution and remove staff and guests from the site. His engineer reported that the situation was unsafe and the guests were evacuated immediately.

The wall on the second floor of the Hotel Frisco will be shown on Thursday, November 4th, 2021. The wall was damaged by crews from Broadstroke Design, Inc. tasked with developing the Winter Plaza along Frisco’s Main Street.
Jenna deJong / Summit Daily News

Guests were taken to nearby hotels and reimbursed for their stays for the night and the following nights. Hovis said his team had also paid for their stays at other hotels and gave Hotel Frisco gift cards for future stays once the building’s structural integrity was restored. Some guests were even given free bottles of wine as an excuse.

Frisco City Spokeswoman Vanessa Agee said the city’s construction department put a work freeze on Winter Plaza on October 5th. Agee wrote in an email that “this work stop was issued because the excavation contractor on the Winter Plaza” project exposed part of the foundation of the Hotel Frisco and damaged the outer wall of the second floor of the Hotel Frisco ”and that“ later due to the uncovering of the foundation, there were concerns about the stability of the foundation of the Hotel Frisco ”.

Agee said the developer for the project was Broadstroke Design, Inc. of Frisco.

The hotel has been closed since the incident and the dirt under the foundation continues to crumble. Hovis said his engineering team had recommended refilling the hole immediately, which is expected to happen over the next week. Hovis said over five truckloads of material were removed from the site, so he expects about the same to fill the hole again, which will likely take three to four days. The Hovis engineer said the hotel is safe to reopen once it happens, although more work may be needed in the future.

Agee said the city of Frisco, with the approval of Hotel Frisco, issued a rating permit for the Winter Plaza project on Nov. 3 to implement the mitigation plan to stabilize the hotel’s foundation.

The hotel has been informing its guests of canceled reservations for a little over a month. So far, reservations have been canceled until the second week of November, despite Hovis saying they’ll have to cancel for Thanksgiving if the project doesn’t finish soon. Hovis could not identify the exact amount of revenue lost, but said it cost him “hundreds of thousands” of dollars. He said well over 100 reservations, possibly more than 200 reservations, had been canceled.

Hovis and his team are currently in talks with a lawyer to clarify the logistics of the project and make up for the lost revenue. Hovis declined to speak further on the matter.

As for the development of the Winter Plaza, Hovis said he supported the project.

“(She has) a nice plan for a nice building,” Hovis said of the Winter Plaza property manager. “I hope it will be done as quickly as possible. There are these building issues, (but) I wish her the best for getting this thing done. It will be nice for Main Street, it will be nice for the city. I wish her all the best in this whole thing. “

Although Hotel Frisco’s foundation is at risk, Winter Plaza owner Myra Mesko of MM Properties noted that the foundation has not been damaged and that she and her team are working with the Hovis team to address some of the issues fix caused to the property.

“Unfortunately, the excavator hit the side of the Hotel Frisco with its bucket on our project,” wrote Mesko in an email. “Fortunately, the Hotel Frisco foundation has not suffered any damage. We have agreed to fix all issues and the agreed remedial action is underway. We look forward to completing our beautiful project. “

Agee said no police complaints were filed at this point and it was determined that this is considered a civil matter. Broadstroke Design, Inc. representatives did not request comments prior to the deadline.

When completed, the Winter Plaza project will have approximately 16,500 square feet of total building space and offer both commercial and residential space.

The wall on the second floor of the Hotel Frisco will be shown on Thursday, November 4th, 2021. The wall was damaged by crews from Broadstroke Design, Inc. tasked with developing the Winter Plaza along Frisco’s Main Street.
Jenna deJong / Summit Daily News