City Beat: Council considers Hammons' hotel agreement

Springfield City Council Jan. 28 held first reading of the final development agreement that spells out the city’s sale of 1.7-acres on St. Louis Street and the adjacent Jordan Valley Car Park to John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts.

The agreement is largely the same as the term sheet council approved on Oct. 22; Hammons will pay $7 million for the land and car park and will then build a 150- to 200-room hotel on the vacant property next to the Springfield Expo Center. Sale of the property must close by Sept. 30, with construction to begin within 60 days of the closing date and completion in 24 months.

In a major change between the term sheet and the final agreement, city officials agreed to Hammons Hotels’ request to drop the required Embassy Suites flag. Without naming a specific brand, the term sheet now states that the hotel must be a “high-quality hotel franchise associated with a nationally recognized hotel franchisor” with both a national reservation system and a national points accrual system.

Hammons will build connections between the car park, the hotel and the expo center. Additionally, he will complete renovations of the expo center’s kitchen.

Hammons also agrees to sell part of his property at St. Louis Street and John Q. Hammons Parkway to Kansas City-based Opus Northwest LLC, which plans to build a stand-alone headquarters for accounting firm BKD LLP. BKD currently is in Hammons Tower across the street.

Councilwoman Mary Collette said she was impressed with the final result of the yearlong development process.

“For a really long time, it looked like we were going to have to pick between having BKD stay in center city or having a hotel in center city with all the breakout rooms and meeting rooms that the (Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau) has been looking for,” she said, referring to the original plan to have both a hotel and BKD facility on the 1.7-acre site. “It just really feels like everybody got what they needed.”

Council could vote on the development agreement as soon as its Feb. 5 luncheon.

Improvement plans

Council approved the 2008–2013 Capital Improvements Program, which acts as a schedule for planned capital improvements in the city.

The program comprises 220 new or continuing projects with a total value of $575.7 million. Of those, 47 projects are new, with a total value of more than $60 million.

Among the new planned expenditures:

• a $10 million all-sports facility at Cooper Park;

• $22 million for “high-priority” transportation projects;

• a $900,000 animal control shelter;

• $500,000 for improvements to Hammons Student Center, which the city plans to use for special events once Missouri State University’s JQH Arena is completed in the fall; and

• $7.2 million various center city street-scape projects.

The plan also noted that the city completed 21 capital improvement projects in 2007, with a total value of $48 million.

Also at the meeting

• Council approved a third 180-day extension on the administrative delay of the storage container law, extending the delay into September.

Council first approved the administrative delay in July 2006, in order to give city staff a chance to review the rules on allowable size, quantity and placement of on-site storage containers.

Councilman Doug Burlison said that the lengthy process is worth the effort.

“I think this extension is merited, especially since what we have currently on the books is a pretty egregious ordinance that, if it were fully enforced, would cause a lot of tension in the business community,” Burlison said. “I think a delay to work on something better is worth the time.”

The city’s storage container ordinance allows one container for every 5,000 square feet of permanent floor area on the site of businesses zoned general retail, highway commercial or industrial commercial. Containers also must be set back at least 100 feet from public rights-of-way, and screened by a solid wall or fence at least 6 feet high and a planting strip at least 10 feet wide.

• City Manager Bob Cumley presented a written update on the city’s response to State Auditor Susan Montee’s petition-driven audit of the city.

The update notes the city’s progress on responding to all 53 suggestions in the state audit. The report lists 25 of the recommendations as “completed,” while another 27 are in progress. Of those recommendations, 24 are listed for review by the internal auditor once that person is hired.

The city’s state audit response plan is accessible via the city Web site, www.springfieldmo.gov.[[In-content Ad]]