PEG Companies Responds to Nightmare on Main Street “MarriNOT” Display

KETCHUM, Idaho – After having a good laugh along with the rest of the community, PEG Companies (PEG), a leading commercial real estate development and investment firm with plans to construct a full-service boutique hotel on River Street, is now responding to Nick Harman’s catchy “MarriNOT” hotel float that rolled through town on Halloween.

When PEG Development Manager Nick Blayden first saw the “MarriNOT” spectacle looming over Main Street late last month, he says he wondered what someone had up their sleeve.

“I have to hand it to him,” Blayden laughed. “That thing took some serious creativity, and thinking outside-the-box is what we’re all about at PEG.”

Wanting to meet the man behind the display – and, of course, congratulate him on winning best overall costume – Blayden reached out with an invitation to take Harman to lunch and swap ideas.

“If I’m really being honest, [Harman’s] work could’ve benefitted by the help of a real hotel developer like myself.” Blayden joked. “For instance, his 12-story design would never work for a small community like Ketchum in real life!”

While Blayden and his team appreciate that the float was all in good fun, they say the number of people taking an interest in the real project is considerable.

Next week, in another effort to connect with the community and answer any questions that “MarriNOT” may have raised about the project, Blayden and other project leaders are hosting a public open house at Limelight Hotel Ketchum.  Blayden says the event will be a chance for people to learn more about PEG’s plans to develop the vacant site at 280 River Street, voice input on the project, and talk openly with project leaders, face-to-face.

In June, PEG launched a 10-question community outreach survey, asking participants to weigh in on design priorities and development preferences. According to PEG, Tuesday’s open house will allow them to follow-up with survey respondents and collect input from those who did not have a chance to participate in it over the summer.

“Facilitating collaborative community involvement is the key to success in all of our projects,” Blayden said. “We appreciate the valuable insights we received from the community last summer through our digital survey. In some cases, we reached out to respondents to clarify any ambiguous points in their input and also to answer specific questions they asked in the open- response portions of the survey. We then took inventory of the responses and incorporated much of the feedback into our plans.”

PEG has previously stated that the group’s goal is to design a hotel that blends seamlessly with Ketchum’s cultural and geographical landscape and to add value to the community.

“In contrast to how “MarriNOT” may have looked, this boutique hotel is actually not going to look like a typical mainstream Marriott property. By definition, the Tribute Portfolio is a brand of one-of-a-kind hotels with individualized character and charm. Each has a different story, a unique design, and even a custom aroma. Every detail of this property will be curated specifically for Ketchum’s special culture and vibe. That’s why tapping into the local community is so vital for us.”

As for Blayden’s next steps in progressing toward his Spring 2020 groundbreaking goal for the hotel, he says the more public knowledge, the better – as long as people have the real facts.

“Who knows?” Blayden laughed. “Maybe we’ll bring [Harman] on board as an honorary developer to help build the real thing!”

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Ketchum Tribute Portfolio Hotel Open House: 

Date: November 12, 2019

Time: 4:00pm – 8:00pm

Location: Limelight Hotel – Ketchum (151 Main St S, Ketchum, ID 83340)