Construction has started on a $3 million, 17,500-square-foot addition at Land’s End Resort at the end of the Homer Spit. When finished, the new wing will add 33 rooms to the historic hotel and conference center.

“Certainly our construction is a voice of confidence in the economy of Homer,” said Land’s End Acquisitions President Jon Faulkner.

Steiner’s North Star Construction is the general contractor for the project. Faulkner said all subcontractors will be Homer area businesses, with all supplies purchased locally. On Monday, Steiner’s carpenters framed and prepared ahead of time sections of interior walls while piles were being driven for the foundation. The addition will go in an open lot between the hotel and the Land’s End Lodgings, a condominium development also built by Land’s End.

Since Faulkner purchased Land’s End in 1988, there have been new wings added or construction done in 1995, 2000 and 2004. The latest project is the last phase being done under a conditional use permit acquired in 2004, Faulkner said. Each room will be about 480-square-feet, with full baths and showers, and have a Kachemak Bay view.

Faulkner said he hopes for completion of the project by July 1 this summer, at the height of the traditional tourist season.

“We’ve always built in the winter,” he said. “It’s the least disruptive to our crew, it’s the least disruptive to our guests. It’s when work is needed in our local community.”

The addition also will upgrade the look of Land’s End Resort, with new weather-resistant siding and a fresher interior look. Eventually Land’s End will upgrade the siding of the older part of the complex as well as do a remodel of conference rooms.

“It will set the standard for future renovations,” Faulkner said.

Land’s End Resort has been a popular off-season and summer conference destination for events like the Kachemak Bay Writers Conference and, for next fall, the Homer World Art Festival.

Faulkner noted how the Land’s End addition and a new Aspen Hotel are an overdue boost to the lodging industry in Homer.

“It’s been a long, long time,” he said. “Just within the last year we’ve had two major additions — one the Aspen and the other ours — that have added $7-8 million in taxable revenue, immediately, to the city of Homer.”

Reach Michael Armstrong at marmstrong@homernews.com.