If Tacoma's downtown Brewery District is to become the home of a new 160-room hotel where the former Columbia-Heidelberg Brewery now stands, it will take a creative architect, a flexible owner and some out-of-the-box thinking from preservationists to get the job done.

That's the clear message that emerged from an initial exchange Wednesday night between Tacoma's Landmarks Preservation Commission and the developer and owners of the new hotel.

Hotel Concepts of Seattle rolled out its embryonic plans for a 7-or-8-story Holiday Inn or Holiday Inn Express on the brewery site at 2120 S. C St.

The group, which for now includes Gig Harbor investors who own part of the old brewery, wants to demolish the brewery's oldest buildings on the northern two-thirds of the brewery block. The '50s addition to the brewery, now under other ownership, would remain for now.

If the hotel is to gain the commission's favor preliminary discussions revealed Wednesday night, the hotel will have to:

* Blend with the scale and massing of the brewery area and the nearby historic district.

* Be designed with a facade appropriate to its historic setting, not to a freeway interchange.

* Possibly incorporate some of the iconic features of the brewery or at least include hints of its brewery-site history in its design.

At the same time, the developers said their needs include:

* Constructing the hotel within a budget that allows it to charge the modest rates typical to a Holiday Inn or Holiday Inn Express.

* Comply in general with the design restrictions of the hotel chain.

Hotel Concepts principal Han Kim distributed a preliminary drawing of the proposed hotel, though Kim said the plans are still in the early conceptual stages.

That early drawing drew less-than-favorable reviews from commission members.

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"What I've seen doesn't impress me," said one commission member saying the drawing reminded him too much of a typical freeway hotel.

Kim said the final design need not look like the initial concept.

Other commission members said the scale and materials of the new hotel should blend thoughtfully with the brick warehouses of the nearby historic district and the University of Washington Tacoma.

Several commission members said they don't want another hotel like downtown's relatively new Mariott Courtyard, a building whose suburban-style upper-story architecture has been roundly criticized as inappropriate for its downtown setting.

Kim asked that commission members not hold their experience with the Marriott project against him.

After the briefing, Kim said he's not bound by Holiday Inn to a cookie cutter design.

Historic Tacoma President Sharon Winters in post-meeting discussions with the hotel developers suggested that they consider preserving some of the iconic features of the brewery such as the Heidelberg neon sign or the watertower in the new structure. She also suggested using brick in the building structure to mirror the brick in the nearby historic district.

Kim said brick possibly could be incorporated in the new building, but financial constraints and Holiday Inn rules might prevent the sign from becoming a part of the new building.

Winters, a former Landmarks Commission member, said she doubts that the city will deny the developer's request for a demolition permit, but meeting the design criteria for the new hotel would require some creative thinking.

The brewery site is part of the Union Station Conservation District, which puts demolition and any new construction under the eye of the Landmarks Commission. The commission has less real power than it would have if the brewery were in the adjacent Union Station Historic District, but its recommendations could have a large influence on what gets done there.

Hotel Concepts first wants to raze the collection of brewery buildings which were built at various times ranging from the early '30s to the '50s. (All traces of the original brewery built after the turn of the century may no longer remain).

A prior survey of the district noted that while the site and its functions played a key role in Tacoma's development, the existing buildings themselves have been altered and added onto so many times that they aren't particularly historically significant.

The commission briefing Wednesday night was just a prelude to a more formal hearing on the demolition and new building design issues that still are to come.

Hotel Concepts specializes in developing modestly-priced hotel properties.

Here are some examples of its work:

Hampton Inn & Suites - Bremerton Waterfront

Holiday Inn Express - Seattle

Fairfield Inn - SeaTac