ONTARIO — Yush Chandat and his family continue to believe — and invest in — Ontario.
The owners of Ontario Hospitality Inc. broke ground Thursday afternoon on a new, $8 million, four-story, 99-room Holiday Inn Express on Ferguson Road.
It’s the third Ontario hotel launched by the family business. That includes the adjacent 86-bed TownPlace Suites by Marriott and and the Country Inn & Suites by Radisson on Walker Lake Road, a property it then sold in 2008.
Chandat graduated from Ontario High School in 2010 and then studied architecture at Kent State University. After earning a bachelor’s degree, he moved on to Cleveland State University to study urban planning and development with a side focus on real estate finance.
It’s well prepared him for the family business, including his father, Raj Chandat, who built the 86-bed, extended-stay TownPlace Suites property, located on land immediately north of the site for the new Holiday Inn Express.
“We have been in the (Ontario) community since I was in middle school,” Yush Chandat said.
The new hotel is expected to open in July 2023, which the younger Chandat will operate.
“(Holiday Inn) is a great brand and we love to bring it to Ontario,” Chandat said. “It’s nice to bring the (Holiday Inn) brand and their loyal customers to the city.”
The new hotel will also have a meeting room, a board room, fitness center and a buffet-style, continental breakfast.
“(Hoiday Inn) is known for their pancakes and their cinnamon rolls,” he said with a smile.
Chandat said his father and his partners studied travel patterns and growth in the area. He said local organizations were doing the kinds of events that were bringing in visitors.
“In 2016, we actually extended Ferguson Road off of Lexington-Springmill Road and bent the corner at Guest Court and opened up access to 43 acres of land for development right at the corner of the gateway to Ontario right off of U.S. 30,” Chandat said.
Ontario Mayor Randy Hutchinson, who helped guide tax abatements and incentives to assist in the development effort, praised the Chandat family.
“It’s not only a great asset to the City of Ontario, but over the entire county and the whole region with everything we have going on around here with tourism,” Hutchinson said. “Having this continued investment with another hotel is great.”
“This is a great family and that’s why they are successful,” the mayor said. “They work very well. As you talk to Yush, you can see he is a great young man. They have the right vision and they have been a great company to work with.”
Chandat said the new hotel will create six to eight full-time jobs and 16 to 20 part-time seasonal jobs depending on occupancy.
