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Mayor tells City Council that Downtown hotel must not be delayed

Monday, May 13th, 2013

By John Martin

via – Evansville Courier-Press

EVANSVILLE — Evansville needs the commerce and jobs a Downtown convention hotel will bring, and the project must not be delayed any longer, Mayor Lloyd Winnecke told the City Council Monday.

The city is to provide $37.5 million of the development’s $70 million cost, according to a predevelopment agreement with HCW of Branson, Mo. Of the city’s share, $20 million is a direct contribution to construction of the 253-room Doubletree by Hilton, which will be owned and operated by HCW. The remaining $17.5 million is to be for a 330-space parking facility, connections between the hotel property and The Centre and Ford Center and storage for the Ford Center.

HCW also plans a tower with 78 upscale apartments, and a restaurant on the property. The hotel is to include 6,400 square feet of ballroom space.

Bonds issued by the city are to be retired using tax increment financing, Casino Aztar funds and food and beverage taxes, according to city officials. The City Council was told at Monday’s called informational meeting that those three funds generate nearly $18 million in net revenue in an average year, roughly $8 million of which is currently set aside to retire debt on the Ford Center.

Debt on the hotel development’s cost is projected to be about $2 million per year for about 25 years, city financial consultant Robert Swintz with the London Witte Group.

Winnecke said the city’s desire to have an Indiana University School of Medicine facility built Downtown in the next few years — a project that might also involve city incentives — should not prevent the hotel project from going forward.

Committees are currently studying potential locations, academic plans and costs associated with an IU facility. Winnecke said IU will request state funding, but that won’t occur until the next state budget comes up for consideration in 2015.

Winnecke said the project could be “transformative” for Evansville. “We’re very hopeful it will come through for the community. But there’s no guarantee of a medical school. We shouldn’t wait on the hotel for the outcome of the medical project … A convention hotel will be a great inducement to bring a medical facility Downtown.”

The hotel development will create both permanent and construction jobs. CEO Rick Huffman of HCW said a hotel with 253 rooms likely will create the same number of jobs. He said the conference center will bring 8-12 full-time and 35-45 part-time positions, and the restaurant and retail space will also have employees.

Public comment during the City Council meeting generally supported the hotel project and especially its promise of jobs.

“I have a strong belief Downtown is, was and will be worth the effort,” Bruce Griffin said.

“We need that hotel,” Jerome Stewart said. “There’s no doubt about it … When parents struggle for the lack of gainful employment, children suffer as well.”

Jim Braker said the community needs jobs, but he’s concerned about the revenue from Evansville’s casino holding steady in the next few years as competition for players increases.

Charlene Williamson praised the development’s plan for apartments, calling that aspect “an ingenious addition.” She and many others in the audience wore orange stickers which said “Build Them Both,” referring to the hotel project and IU facility.

The Rev. Adrian Brooks Sr. said he supports the hotel development, but he urged the city to attempt to negotiate down its subsidy and the saved revenue to demolish more Center City structures and upgrade parks and sidewalks. Brooks urged that 20 percent of business on the project be set aside for women- and minority-owned businesses and a third of its employment go to Center City residents.

Huffman vowed that women- and minority-owned businesses will be involved.

Most of the City Council’s questions dealt with financing. Conor O’Daniel, D-At-large, asked repeatedly if the city could afford incentives for both a hotel project and a medical school, which would require substantial Downtown real estate.

“Could we afford it based on the cash flows you show?” O’Daniel asked Swintz. Swintz replied that much depends on the pattern of interest rates in the next few years.

Dan Adams, D-At-large, and Finance Chair John Friend, D-5th Ward, urged that the project have an internal auditor who is independent of the developer.

The Evansville Hotel Lodging Association, consisting of owners and operators of 14 local hotels, does not object to the building of a convention hotel but it is “adamantly opposed” to the level of public funding, said Jacob Pendleton, immediate past president.

Pendleton said the association “is strongly in favor of increasing our tourism industry” but “we believe that subsidizing private development with too much public money will ultimately put our industry, and our city, at risk.”

Bob Warren, director of the Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau, conceded that some “shifting” in hotel business will occur with a new Downtown hotel, but overall hotel business in the city will increase 30 to 40 percent if the property is built.

Hunden Strategic Partners, the city’s hotel project consultant, concluded that the city has a sizeable total number of rooms, but they aren’t in the right locations or the right quality to bring convention business.

Pendleton said Hunden’s report validates his association’s position. Rob Hunden with Hunden Strategic Partners argued the opposite, saying the convention hotel plan being considered “is designed to make the pie bigger” for the whole hotel market.

Officials with the city and HCW continue to negotiate a final development agreement, which is subject to Evansville Redevelopment Commission approval. Bonds for the public share must be approved by City Council. Winnecke said he’d like to break ground on the project in late summer.

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Posted in 2013, Convention Hotel, Evansville, Indiana, Rob Hunden | Comments Off

City signs hotel pre-development agreement

Friday, April 12th, 2013

-via Evansville Courier & Press

EVANSVILLE — The city of Evansville and a Branson, Mo. company have entered into a pre-development agreement on a $70 million Downtown development project, to be anchored by a 253-room, 12-story convention hotel.

Of the total project cost, $37.5 million is to come in the form of city incentives. Final action on the city’s share is subject to City Council approval. The redevelopment commission approved the pre-development agreement 4 to 0 during a called meeting Wednesday.

The full-service hotel will be a Doubletree by Hilton. Combined with about 1,600 square feet of city-owned retail and restaurant space that’s also part of the property, the development is to employ more than 300 people.

Also proposed is a tower with about 70 upscale apartments and a parking garage with about 330 spaces.

A final development agreement is to come in about 90 days. Although some City Council members have met individually with the developer and city administration officials, the entire council will be briefed about the hotel, as well as the status of the Indiana University medical school project, during a called public meeting at 5:30 p.m. April 29 in Room 301 of the Civic Center.

“It is important to note that our administration is continuing to negotiate to reduce costs on all aspects of the development,” Mayor Lloyd Winnecke said in a prepared statement. “It is clear the city is making progress as we are embarking on another transformational project in Downtown Evansville.”

Of the $37.5 million in city subsidy, $20 million will be for the hotel. The rest is for infrastructure such as the parking facility, connections between the hotel and The Centre and the Ford Center, and a storage space for the Ford Center.

Convention & Visitors Bureau Director Bob Warren told the redevelopment commission that a convention hotel Downtown is critical to bringing business back to Evansville — business he said is now going elsewhere.

“We are losing a lot of money in our community,” Warren said.

Rick Huffman, CEO and president of HCW, the Branson company, said the hotel will have an indoor pool and spa, a conference center space and a rooftop bar “with a real modern, hip environment.”

The Centre, Evansville’s convention facility, “is a little outdated but very nice,” Huffman said, adding the hotel property is needed to bring it to life.

“It will be a success because it will draw new business to Evansville. You’re not getting that business today, and it’s your turn,” Huffman said.

Evansville Redevelopment Commission President Ed Hafer said Wednesday’s vote on the pre-development agreement was “a big step” toward moving the project. “We’ve got a great project and we’re going to make it better in the next 60-90 days as we continue to refine things.”

“It’s a branded hotel, which we have not had Downtown in a long, long time,” Hafer said. “That’s very important … most importantly, it’s going to bring a lot of activity Downtown. Activity breeds activity.”

Hafer said there’s no question in his mind the city can afford the hotel project.

“We have the cash flow with the Downtown TIF which this administration and previous administrations have put in place for this very reason,” Hafer said. “We’re not talking about raising property taxes to do it. I think the city has been cautious in their approach to financing this. We don’t want to give tax abatements because we want to keep the cash flows coming in. We can do this project and have plenty of cash reserves left for future projects.”

City Councilwoman Stephanie Brinkerhoff-Riley, D-3rd Ward, attended the redevelopment commission meeting. She noted the city has many other projects on its plate.

“It’s a lot of money, and potentially, the timing is not good. Personally, I would like to understand what’s going on with the medical school … what’s it going to take to get that here and what it’s going to be required of us to make it happen,” Brinkerhoff-Riley said. “I find the impact and idea of the medical school as a general direction of economic development and impact on this community much more exciting than building this hotel.

“It begs the question of wouldn’t it be nice if we had a general plan of economic development, it would put things in order in terms of importance.”

Under terms of the pre-agreement, the city is to pay a maximum of $200,000 to HCW for what the document calls “third-party costs” incurred by the developer. Some of those costs could involve things like analysis of soil density and traffic patterns, said Philip Hooper, Department of Metropolitan Development director.

“Most if not all of that work will be done by local firms,” Hooper said.

City Councilman Dan McGinn, R-1st Ward, said it’s “fair” that the city pay some of those expenses.

“We have to be fair with the developer, because if he’s going to go ahead and hire architects and do preliminary drawings and designs, he’s going to have some costs involved,” said Dan McGinn, a member of a city administration steering committee that vetted developers and met with HCW officials on Tuesday.

McGinn said the April 29 meeting will allow the City Council and public to learn more about the development plan. McGinn finds much to like about it.

“Cities have to preserve, protect and continue to build downtowns, or else people continue to leave and you don’t have a tax base to support city services,” McGinn said. “I look at this development as several things, one is bringing people to town to spend dollars. I believe Bob (Warren) and people who work at the Convention & Visitors Bureau will thoroughly do their job and we’ll get some business. Also, the city’s subsidy does not pay for the apartments. That’s the developer putting his own funds in, helping build the tax base downtown. It comes not only witha promise or a possibility of people living Downtown, but there are concrete realities.

“It’s been known from Day One that large hotels in Downtown areas are not profitable, so you need some government assistance. The question then becomes, do you want a downtown hotel? My answer is yes I do.”

Brinkerhoff-Riley asked Huffman during the redevelopment commission meeting about the types of jobs created by the development.

He answered that it will be a mixture of management and sales jobs and lower-salary service jobs, with all positions having benefits.

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Ford Center income and expenses both more than budgeted For 2012, arena had $281,000 deficit

Monday, March 11th, 2013

via Courier Press

By: John Martin

EVANSVILLE — The Ford Center’s first full calendar year included 145 sports and entertainment events bringing nearly a half-million people through the doors, according to the facility’s annual report prepared by VenuWorks for the Evansville Redevelopment Commission.

Operating revenues of $8.18 million and operating expenses of $6.6 million for 2012 were both more than budgeted. The report lists an operating profit of $1.58 million, although when taking into account Ford Center-related costs of the City-County Building Authority and other entities, the arena’s deficit came to $281,293 for the year.

Construction debt on the arena is about $122 million, plus interest.

VenuWorks Executive Director Scott Schoenike said the Ford Center became a regional entertainment hub in its first year. About half of the arena’s guests traveled more than 20 miles to attend events.

Evansville IceMen professional hockey and University of Evansville basketball accounted for most arena events. The Ford Center also hosted the Hadi Shrine Circus, Disney on Ice, a monster truck show, a Cirque du Soleil tour, professional bull riders, comedian Jeff Dunham and musicians such as Elton John, Lady Antebellum and The Temptations.

A study of the Ford Center’s economic impact by Hunden Strategic Partners found the arena created $39.1 million in direct spending. The consultant used a metric called IMPLAN, which shows how a dollar injected into one economic sector is spent and re-spent in other sectors.

Hunden found the Ford Center has supported 830 full-time equivalent jobs with $12.2 million in total earnings and a sales-tax collection of $345,000.

All suites and loge seats were sold, and the arena received LEED silver certification, reflecting an environment-friendly design. The Ford Center was recognized by industry publications Pollstar (a nomination for Best New Venue of the Year) and Billboard (named a New Venue to Watch).

Schoenike told the Redevelopment Commission Tuesday that the lack of a capital projects funding source for the arena is a concern. He said some maintenance problems inevitably develop at facilities when they become three to five years old, and the arena will need to keep up with venues in competing markets.

A line in the report states that during 2013, “a long-term capital plan and funding source needs to be developed with the Evansville Redevelopment Commission.”

Redevelopment Commission members praised the arena’s performance. Schoenike said the Ford Center has remained busy in 2013, with more touring acts being booked.

“We’re selling tickets, which helps keep promoters coming here,” Schoenike said.

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Winnecke, ERC move forward with Branson, Mo., firm to develop Downtown hotel Commission to then open formal negotiations

Monday, January 28th, 2013

via – Courier Press

By John Martin

Posted January 22, 2013 at 7:49 p.m., updated January 23, 2013 at 4:52 p.m.

EVANSVILLE — A new Downtown hotel developed by a Branson, Mo., firm will usher Evansville back into the convention market for the first time since the Executive Inn closed in 2009, Mayor Lloyd Winnecke said Wednesday.

The property at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Walnut Street is to include a hotel with approximately 250 rooms, a residential tower and businesses.

Wednesday morning’s 5-0 vote by the Evansville Redevelopment Commission signaled the formal opening of negotiations between city officials and Branson-based HCW. A summer groundbreaking on the new development is possible, with construction taking about 18 months.

HCW’s vision for apartments to be part of the development “really set them apart” from other firms interested in the project, Winnecke said.

“HCW understands that for Downtown to grow off this development, it has to be more than a hotel,” Winnecke said. “They get the fact that is has to be (the) catalyst.”

The company developed Branson Landing, a multi-faceted development in the Missouri community, as well as a hotel in Manhattan, Kan.

“Unlike some developers, they have been building through the recession,” Winnecke said. “They have not been on the sidelines. They are also able to bring their own equity to this project, and because of the strength of their balance sheet should be able to secure private-sector funding to secure their piece of the funding of this.”

One other interested developer wanted the city to own the hotel, and another was interested in EB-5 financing, a federal program that allows overseas investors to provide money for U.S. projects in exchange for speeding up the visa process.

Winnecke said he and the advisory group that vetted developers’ proposals were not comfortable with either of those scenarios.

HCW “represents the epitome of quality … What they really wanted was to sit down in a room, roll up their sleeves and develop a project that’s viable for the city and viable for them. There was a really natural chemistry between their team and our team.”

There still will be significant details to work out, especially as they relate to finding and the city’s share.

Winnecke said public subsidies will be involved only with the project’s construction, and local labor — including women- and minority-owned businesses — will benefit.

The Centre, owned by Vanderburgh County government, has lost between $800,000 and $1 million per year since the Executive Inn closed. Winnecke said a Downtown hotel will not close that gap entirely, but it will “get us back in the game” of convention business.

Rob Hunden, the city’s consultant on the hotel project, told the redevelopment commission that Evansville has 44 hotels with about 4,000 rooms, but only 350 are Downtown. Those rooms are at Casino Aztar Hotel and Le Merigot, properties that cater mostly to casino customers.

The average hotel in Evansville is about 24 years old.

Evansville, said Hunden, has a good number of rooms for its market size, but too many of them “are in the wrong place and of the wrong quality.”

He also noted Evansville has gained a nearby competitor in the convention market since the Executive Inn shut down. Owensboro, Ky., using what Hunden described as substantial federal and state subsidies, has built a new convention center and two Downtown hotels, a Holiday Inn and Hampton Inn and Suites, with a total of 270 rooms.

Hunden estimates the Downtown development will produce $35 million to $40 million in local tax revenue over the next 25 years.

His written report to the city states likely convention targets for a new hotel and The Centre would be “corporate training events and meetings from the region, smaller state associations, trade shows and other events.”

The hotel will have its own ballroom space, which Hunden said will likely mean receptions and some other small-scale events will he held there rather than at The Centre, which with 280,000 square feet was built for large gatherings.

Public-private partnerships on convention-style hotels are common in the industry, said Hunden.

He told the redevelopment commission that a convention “anchor” hotel Downtown will give the Evansville market a boost. “There’s a lot to be gained here if you play your cards right.”

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Downtown hotel development plan brings mixed reaction

Monday, January 28th, 2013

via – Courier Press

By John Martin
Posted January 23, 2013 at 5:06 p.m., updated January 23, 2013 at 5:06 p.m.

EVANSVILLE — The pending arrival of a new convention hotel Downtown has Evansville Convention & Visitors Bureau Executive Director Bob Warren thinking ahead.

“We are interested in selling meetings and conventions,” said Warren, who’s been in Evansville two years. “That’s our job, and having a hotel to do that is critically important. We estimate somewhere between $8 and $12 million per year is not being generated (without a Downtown hotel).

“We are fully prepared to begin marketing and promotion of that hotel.”

The Evansville Redevelopment Commission voted 5-0 vote Wednesday to open negotiations with HCW of Branson, Mo., on a public-private development on the former Executive Inn site.

City officials say that hotel’s closure four years ago created a gap in the local hotel business. But at least one other local hotel operator disagrees.

Gary Nickolick of the Clarion Inn and Conference Center on U.S. 41 blasted the idea of a taxpayer-supported hotel development Downtown.

“The supposed current void created by the demolition of the Executive Inn is a manufactured fairy tale,” Nickolick said in a letter addressed to the Courier & Press and local government officials. “We currently have two very nice properties Downtown affiliated with the casino. If there were truly a need for additional hotel rooms Downtown ,why doesn’t the free market see the need and fill it?

“None of the rest of us have had the benefit of public money, or free rent or governmental guarantees when our properties were developed.”

Nickolick compared the plan to using food and beverage taxes “to finance a new out-of-town pizza restaurant that would be in direct competition with Turoni’s and Roca Bar.”

Warren said it’s “very common” in the convention industry to have public funding in construction of anchor hotels.

“It’s all a matter of economic development for us,” Warren said. “When (convention guests) are here, they are spending money on goods and services. The generated economic development for our community and revenues for our convention center.”

SMG, manager of The Centre, and the hotel developer’s independent sales team also will be involved in marketing the property, Warren said.

A few local government officials attended the redevelopment commission meeting Wednesday where Mayor Lloyd Winnecke presented his recommended of HCW as the property’s developer.

“It’s exciting. It’s a great plan,” Councilman Jonathan Weaver, D-At-large, said. “I’m just happy to see that we’re moving forward and putting something in that empty lot.”

The City Council is always eager to look at projects that will improve economic development, said Finance Chairman John Friend, D-5th Ward. “The question we’ll be looking at obviously is the financial commitment the community will have to obligate itself to. There will be questions that come up about what kind of financial commitment we have going forward.”

Vanderburgh County Commissioners President Marsha Abell, who was on an advisory group that vetted the three proposals, said she agreed with Winnecke that HCW was the best company for Evansville.

County government operates The Centre.

“We’re not looking to make The Centre a big profitable thing, but we want to bring conventions here so those people can shop at Eastland Mall, eat at our restaurants, spend their money here,” Abell said. “We’re going to create the environment so when the conventions come those people can bring their families and spend money in our community.”

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Mayor expects to make hotel recommendation ‘in the coming weeks’

Wednesday, November 28th, 2012

By John Martin

via Evansville Courier Press

EVANSVILLE — Mayor Lloyd Winnecke expects to make a recommendation to the Evansville Redevelopment Commission “in the coming weeks” on which of three firms should build a new Downtown hotel as well as the still undetermined level of public financing for the project.

Three companies are being considered — Gatehouse Capital Corp. of Dallas; HCW of Branson, Mo.; and Swerdling & Associates of Denver. All three submitted bids by an Oct. 30 deadline and have since met with Winnecke and an informal committee he assembled to hear the proposals.

The three development plans include space for retail and dining establishments in addition to 240-260 hotel rooms. The hotel will replace the former Executive Inn on Walnut Street, which was demolished during construction of the Ford Center. The new hotel will be built on the site of the Executive Inn’s parking structure and one-time Green Convention Center.

“We are in the process of evaluating each of those proposals,” Winnecke said. “I can tell you that each of them would be extremely good for the city. The proposals are exciting, they are dynamic.”

Each development firm was given two hours to make a presentation to the group Winnecke assembled to hear those presentations. It consisted of City Council President Connie Robinson, D-4th Ward; City Councilman Dan McGinn, R-1st Ward; Vanderburgh County Commission President Marsha Abell; Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Bob Warren; Evansville Redevelopment Commission President Ed Hafer; and banking and business community representatives Jim Sandgren, John Daniel and Andy Goebel. Also sitting in on the presentations were accountant Bob Swintz with the London Witte Group and attorney Tom Pitman with Barnes & Thornburg.

The administration of former Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel last year had selected The Kunkel Group to develop a Downtown hotel. Negotiations stalled, however.

“We reset that project when we came into office (in January),” Winnecke said. “We hired a consultant who actually works in the hospitality industry to walk us through the process and put together a good study for us about what we really need Downtown. We’ve very pleased with how that turned out.”

Hunden Strategic Partners was paid $75,000 for the study. Winnecke said the three proposals submitted are in line with specifics established city officials and the consultant, but they are not mirror images.

All provide connectivity to The Centre and the Ford Center.

“They all contain many of the same components, yet individual components within each plan in many cases are very different,” Winnecke said.

Regarding financial incentives the city will be offering a hotel developer, Winnecke said, “One of the things we’re doing right now is trying to paint a financial picture, determine what our financial capacity is within the Downtown TIF (Tax Increment Financing), within excess riverboat, all of our funding streams to determine exactly how much we have to spend or commit on incentives.”

Last year’s proposal from Kunkel was for a 220-room hotel at $33 million. That project included a reported city incentive of $8 million and a 10-year, 100 percent tax abatement, which would have equaled an additional $4 million.

Each of three proposals currently under review by the city call for 12-14 months of construction time.

Winnecke said the tentative time frame for completion is “the end of 2014, the beginning to 2015, more or less.”

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Redevelopment Commission to review proposals for Downtown hotel

Monday, November 12th, 2012

May award contract by end of the month

By John Martin

via – Evansville Courier Press

EVANSVILLE — The city is closer to awarding a contract for a new Downtown hotel.

The Redevelopment Commission will review proposals from three companies during an executive session Friday.

Those companies are Gatehouse Capital Corp. of Dallas; HCW of Branson, Mo.; and Swerdling & Associates of Denver.

City officials say the project — which will be at the former Executive Inn site, adjacent to the Ford Center and The Centre — could include restaurant and retail development in addition to the hotel.

During Friday’s executive session, plans that the companies have submitted will be reviewed by commission members and the city’s consultant on the hotel project, Rob Hunden, of Chicago-based Hunden Strategic Partners.

“We’re asking Rob to give us his synopsis,” said Ed Hafer, Redevelopment Commission chairman.

The next regularly scheduled Redevelopment Commission meeting is Nov. 20, however that’s two days before Thanksgiving and all members may not be present.

Hafer said it’s possible that a contract could be awarded at a meeting a few days after Thanksgiving.

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Three firms selected to bid on Downtown hotel project

Thursday, September 20th, 2012

By John Martin

Originally published 09:43 a.m., August 21, 2012

via – Evansville Courier Press

EVANSVILLE — Three of the five firms which submitted qualifications to build a new Downtown hotel are now being invited to bid on the project.

They are Gatehouse Capital Corp. of Dallas; HCW of Branson, Mo.; and Swerdling & Associates of Denver.

The Evansville Redevelopment Commission on Tuesday approved a Request for Proposals. The three firms chosen to make bids are involved in more than $2 billion worth of current and recent hotel projects, said Philip Hooper, executive director of the Department of Metropolitan Development.

The final project might involve more than just a hotel. Hooper said developers could also consider restaurant, retail or apartment possibilities at the former Executive Inn site, adjacent to The Centre and the Ford Center.

Hooper even left open the possibility of more than one hotel.

“These are creative, expert developers, and we’re excited to see what they bring to the table,” Hooper said. At least one of the three firms already has had staff visit Evansville.

City officials hope to have proposals from the three companies by Oct. 1 with a winner possibly selected by Nov. 4.

Firms that submitted qualifications but were not asked to bid were Acquest Development of Buffalo, N.Y., and Corporex of Covington, Ky.

Hooper said financing ability and hotel development experience were the most important factors. City staff and Redevelopment Commission members agreed that Gatehouse Capital, HCW and Swerdling brought Evansville the most potential.

“The next step is to issue the RFP and get into those details — specific proposals of the what (number of) rooms are they talking about, what brands, what size, where on the block.” Hooper said. “Is it one hotel, two hotels, is a restaurant or retail included?”

A consultant that’s worked with city officials on the project, Hunden Strategic Partners, determined the “optimal” hotel should have 240 to 270 rooms, although Hooper said Tuesday that different sizes are possible.

The Hunden report concluded that Evansville currently “is not competitive at all when it comes to hosting meetings, conventions and other events that might consider Evansville, primarily due to the lack of a hotel on-site.

“The existing two hotels Downtown do not cater to or make large room blocks available to meeting planners (due to a focus on gaming guests) and the largest, the Aztar hotel, is not of the quality expected by planners,” according to the report.

Hooper said either a “limited service plus” or “full service light” model of new hotel is possible.

He looks forward to continuing talks with the three potential developers. “It’s a public- private partnership, and we’re all going to have agree, both sides. Certainly size is a factor, but also cost … what is the right mix of public subsidy.

“We’ll learn more about the creative solutions they have to our development scenario.”

 

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Companies that qualify to build hotel are all from out of town

Thursday, September 20th, 2012

By John Martin

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

via – Evansville Courier Press

EVANSVILLE — The five companies that submitted qualifications to build a hotel in Downtown Evansville all are from out of town.

They are Acquest Development of Buffalo, N.Y.; Corporex of Covington, Ky.; HCW of Branson, Mo.; Gatehouse Capital Corp. of Dallas; and Swerdling & Associates of Denver.

Acquest’s website describes a multifaceted commercial real estate company offering services in “acquisition, due diligence, site planning, rezoning, construction, financing, property management and leasing.”

Corporex was part of a partnership that built a major commercial development in the Ohio River community of Newport, Ky., near Cincinnati.

Greathouse Capital is engaged in the development and redevelopment of “mixed-use properties” involving “upscale hotels in high barrier, urban and technology markets,” its website says.

HCW’s website claims more than $2 billion in real estate development, with emphasis on ” preserving and accentuating the natural beauty and unique characteristics of the communities in which it works.”

The company website of Swerdling describes it as “a premier real estate financial consulting firm specializing exclusively in the hospitality industry.” It cites experience in “negotiating and underwriting public-private partnerships.”

Philip Hooper, Evansville Department of Metropolitan Development director, gave the five companies’ names to the Redevelopment Commission on Tuesday. He said the commission will look at experience and financing ability when deciding which companies will be asked to submit formal proposals.

A request for proposals is expected to be issued Aug. 21. The hotel, to be built next to the Ford Center on the former Executive Inn site, is to have 240-270 rooms at a cost of $30 million to $33.7 million, with a city incentive ranging from $6 million to $7.3 million.

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Hunden: Downtown could sustain 240- to 270- room hotel

Thursday, September 20th, 2012

By Arek Sarkissian II

Originally published 10:10 a.m., May 15, 2012

via – Evansville Courier Press

EVANSVILLE — The Evansville Redevelopment Commission learned on Tuesday that the Downtown area could sustain a hotel with 240 to 270 rooms and at a price range of $30 million to $40 million.

The scope, which was presented by Rob Hunden, of Chicago-based Hunden Strategic Partners, was similar to one proposed by the Kunkel Group last year. The city paid $75,000 for the Hunden market analysis.

Its plan, which was approved by the outgoing Evansville City Council in December, called for 220 rooms at a cost of $33 million. Kunkel officials also had said its number of rooms could be expanded within the range that Hunden suggested.

In February, negotiations with Kunkel to build a Downtown hotel were halted after Mayor Lloyd Winnecke asked the Redevelopment Commission to conduct a market analysis on the project. Winnecke said though developers had conducted their own analysis of the project, the city never commissioned their own. The Redevelopment Commission approved hiring Hunden to complete the study at an estimated cost of $40,000.

On Monday night, Winneckeʼs spokeswoman, Ella Johnson-Watson, said that due to the details required for the project, the cost for the study had increased to $75,000.

Tuesday, Hunden said his report, which was 191 pages without the appendices, called for a full-service hotel, “without all the bells and whistles that would make it too expensive.”

Hunden also said the hotel should carry a full-service flag that would help spur growth at the slumbering Centre convention facility and the Ford Center, which opened six months ago.

A survey of event planners in the region determined that about half would consider Evansville.

“But then again, the other half would not,” Hunden said.

The report also determined that Indianapolis was the regional favorite for convention destinations.

Hunden declined to reveal the suggested incentive the city should provide. Under the Kunkel deal, the city would provide a total incentive of $8 million. Of that, $1 million would be for the city-owned land across the street from Central Library. Another $3.5 million would be in the form of a forgivable loan. The remaining cash would be repaid with interest.

For $30,000, Hunden also conducted a feasibility study that led the former Redevelopment Commission to choose Kunkelʼs hotel plan over a bid submitted by Chris Verville under the group, Prime Lodging.

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Posted in 2012, Convention Hotel, Evansville, Indiana | Comments Off

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