The Arbor goes down

The motel property was offered for a possible land swap in Spence’s and BC Development’s proposal to build a 17-story hotel-office tower on the former arena site between the Expo Center and Jordan Valley Car Park.

If City Council doesn’t select BC Development to build on the former arena site, Spence said she will move ahead with plans to build a four-star hotel where The Arbor previously stood.

“We’re just waiting for the city to choose … and we’re not going to wait too long,” Spence said.

BC Development has proposed a 120,000-square-foot office tower atop a 300-room hotel on the arena site, possibly affiliated with Wyndham or Starwood. BC Development Vice President Rick Baier previously suggested the former motel property as the future site of a proposed natural history museum that would house paleontological artifacts recovered from Riverbluff Cave in southwest Greene County.

Following a May 30 city hearing, Spence was given until early July to make significant repairs to the dilapidated building or raze the structure, said Nick Heatherly, the city’s director of building development services. The still-inhabited motel was cited for several deficiencies under the city’s dangerous, blighted and nuisance building code, he said.

The hotel development on The Arbor site also would include condominiums as well as retail and office space, Spence said, but plans have not yet received city approval. Spence said she had previously planned to tear down The Arbor for a 92-room Ramada but has since decided to pursue an upscale hotel at the site.[[In-content Ad]]