Maeda bought from the government the vacant lot (Kawaramachi-dori Street Oike-dori Street, where the hotel stands now) of the defunct Kangyo-jo (the Commercial and Industrial Promotion Center), where he had Dai Nippon Construction (now Taisei Corporation) construct a Western style wooden hotel building 'Tokiwa Hotel' and started business in1890.
前田は旧勧業場跡地（現所在地である河原町通御池通）の払い下げを受け、1890年に洋風木造建築の「常盤ホテル」を日本土木会社（現・大成建設）の施工で竣工、開業させた。