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Director along with the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee tracks Lodging Tax revenues. Revenues have increased every year but one since the recession, which adversely affected rates in 2009. So far in 2015, monthly Lodging Tax revenues have increased every month but one and, barring any unforeseen circumstances, 201 S will represent a record year in Lodging Tax collection. This is a positive trend that is likely to continue and points to increasing demand placing positive upward pressure on the Jocal hotel market. National trends in hotel and visitor stays point to continued interest in alternative fonns of lodging, incJudiog smaller boutique inns, self-cat~ng inns, and specialty lodging that are close to tourist attractions and are within walkm g distance of the area's key restaurant and dining options. National hotel chains are paying attention to this trend and have responded with creative brands such as Hotel Indigo by IHG, Canopy and Curio by Hilton, and Aloft by Westin to address th.is demand. Furthennore, this trend is migrating from bigger city markets to smaller communities where both independent hotels and chain affiliated hotels are being developed in downtowns even while other hotel products in the markets continue to thrive. 2.3. 7 Office Market Opportunities Perhaps the most difficult market to evaluate in a community like Ellensburg is the office market. There is little speculative office space in the market and as a consequence there is no historic absorption rates. consistent rent rates, and vacancy rates. The issue is exacerbated in downtown where upper floors that might be conducive to office space are in various states of repair. During the interview process, the price of $10 per square foot a year was cited as reasonable for space that was already suitable for a tenanL This rate hovers just at a level where buildings owners have difficulty maintaining old buildings for the rent they arc commanding. Ideally, the market should work to slowly get the rental rat.es from $10 per square foot to $12 per square foot. An effective way to do this is to deve)op "right-sized" ground floor spaces that work for smaller specialty shops. The recommendations portion of this report will explore some creative solutions to jump start office space use in downtown Ellensburg and work toward slowly escalating rent returns to aUow for additional investment in downtown buildings. 20