Okabe North America Announces Plans for New Downtown Vancouver Hotel

The new hotel will be located at 1180 West Hastings St., between Thurlow St. and Bute St., approximately two blocks south of Vancouver's new convention centre, which is presently under construction, and steps away from the city's business district, cruise ship terminal and major tourist attractions.

"Vancouver is an extremely important market for Okabe North America, which we feel has tremendous growth potential leading up to and following the 2010 winter Olympics," said Shu Naito, Vice President, Okabe North America. "Vancouver clearly needs more hotel capacity around the convention centre. This new hotel is in a spectacular location which is ideally suited to business and leisure travellers."

Okabe Co., Ltd., which acquired Coast Hotels & Resorts in 1988, has selected the hotel chain to manage the new Vancouver property. The new hotel will be called the Coast Coal Harbour Hotel.

Construction of the Coast Coal Harbour Hotel is scheduled to start this month with an anticipated opening in fall 2009. The 30-month construction program is expected to create approximately 415,000 person hours of employment. Construction of the new hotel will be conducted by Scott Construction Group. The construction project will be managed by Delta Land Development Ltd.

This is the first new hotel built by Okabe since the opening of the Coast Victoria Harbourside Hotel & Marina in 1991.

One of the most striking visual elements of the new hotel will be the main vehicular entry point off West Hastings Street, which will be highlighted by an expansive backlit green, blue and yellow glass ceiling. The backlit coloured glass will extend down a two-storey wall between the two lobby entrances creating a central focus. A highly-finished glass enclosed Gallery Kiosk will front onto West Hastings Street housing art displays or for retail purposes. Inside the hotel, a mix of marble finishes and stone floors accented by colored glass will adorn the hotel's lobby creating a warm and inviting atmosphere for arriving guests.

Another prominent feature will be the hotel's 8,000 square foot ballroom and conference facility on the third and fourth floors, which will include 20-foot-high north-facing windows accented by coloured glass. The bank of windows will fill the room with natural light and help animate West Hastings Street. The hotel will also include private boardrooms, a full service business centre, a fully equipped gym, locker room and a landscaped podium roof deck with an outdoor lap pool and hot tub.

A new 100-seat restaurant specializing in west coast cuisine will grace the West Pender Street side of the building along with a continuous glass and steel sidewalk canopy. Four levels of underground parking will also be provided.

The hotel will offer a variety of room types ranging from luxury premium suites on the 20th floor offering breathtaking views of the North Shore mountains, to view suites with king beds and balconies and comfort rooms with either twin queen or twin double beds. All rooms will feature signature Coast design elements including custom designed furniture and carpets.

Downs/Archambault & Partners in Vancouver is the project architect of the Coast Coal Harbour Hotel with Vancouver's Inside Design Studio Inc. overseeing the interior design.

About Okabe North America Inc.

Okabe North America Inc. (ONA) is a real estate and investment subsidiary of Okabe Co., Ltd. in Japan. ONA currently owns five hotels in western Canada. Founded in 1917, Okabe Co., Ltd. is a leading manufacturer of building hardware such as scaffolding frames, construction structural materials and civil engineering products. This progressive and growing company is also involved in hotel management, real estate rental and leasing, data processing and other businesses.

To view the photo accompanying this press release please click on the following link: http://www.ccnmatthews.com/docs/Shu%20Naito.jpg

Shu Naito, Vice President, Okabe North America, plans to build a new $60 million, 20-storey, 220-room full-service hotel in Vancouver's downtown core. The hotel will be managed by Coast Hotels & Resorts.

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