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McMenamins Inc. has signed a lease to operate a new hotel and brewpub at the Port of Kalama. It’s the latest move into Washington by the Portland-based hospitality group.

Space for a 40-room hotel, meeting rooms, a restaurant, a brewery and a gift shop will be built. The rooftop brewpub will have a river view. A smaller 500-square-foot pub will be constructed nearby at Ahles Point.

The project is scheduled for completion by the end of 2017. It will be McMenamins’ ninth Washington location.

The Port of Kalama is building the structures to suit McMenamins. The port will also construct the parking area and landscaping, and rough in electrical and mechanical infrastructure. The hospitality company will be responsible for the interior.

The port’s board of commissioners approved the lease last week.

Collins Architectural Group, of Longview, Washington, will design the new McMenamins development; the historic Pioneer Inn in Lahaina, on Maui, will serve as a model. The firm also designed the port’s administrative building.

The build-to-suit scenario is not unusual for the port, spokeswoman Liz Newman said.

鈥淭hat’s actually our business model,鈥� she said.

The port has two warehouses under construction for Steelscape LLC, a steel supplier for the construction industry.

McMenamins also has experience with build-to-suit projects, said Renee Rank, the company’s marketing director. McMenamins owns some of its properties, and leases others.

The Kalama development has been in the works for several years. The project was slowed by the recession, Rank said.

It adds up to a major new Kalama amenity that port officials hope will draw visitors.

鈥淚 think it will bring people off of I-5,鈥� Newman said. 鈥淲e have a beautiful downtown and some great parks down by the river, and I think it will raise the profile of both.鈥�

The port has room nearby for smaller projects that would complement the hotel and brewpub, Newman said.

The Port of Kalama is squeezed between Interstate 5 and the Columbia River, with 5 miles of riverfront property. The BNSF and Union Pacific railroads serve the port, which also has ready access to I-5 and Columbia River shipping.