Council rubber-stamps Hammons' downtown deal

Springfield City Council on Oct. 22 unanimously approved a term sheet with developer John Q. Hammons to build a hotel on the 1.7-acre parcel between the city’s expo center and car park in Jordan Valley Park, while accounting firm BKD LLP will get a new building on the parking lot of nearby University Plaza. City staff and Hammons must still finalize the official development agreement, which is expected to be ready for a council vote either Nov. 12 or 26.

City officials have said the deal secures at least $60 million of new investment downtown.

Under the terms of the agreement, Hammons will pay $7 million for both the vacant plot and the adjacent Jordan Valley Car Park. The seven- to 10-story Embassy Suites hotel, expected to cost more than $35 million, will have 150 to 200 rooms, according to the agreement. It also will include a full-service restaurant and covered connections to the car park and Springfield Expo Center.

Among the city’s performance guarantees: The sale of the property must close by Sept. 30, and construction must be complete by Sept. 30, 2010.

Hammons will receive 100 percent property tax abatement on the hotel and car park for the first 10 years and 50 percent abatement for the next 15 years; Hammons loses the abatements if he does not meet the land sale deadline.

The deal also is contingent on BKD reaching a lease agreement with Opus Northwest LLC, one of the four developers considered to develop the former arena site, for a new building at St. Louis Street and John Q. Hammons Parkway in front of UP. BKD had considered building its new headquarters as part of the hotel development but settled on a standalone structure.

Hammons also must install carpet in the expo center and complete the facility’s prep kitchen.

Tracy Kimberlin, executive director of the Springfield Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the development should help the city recruit conventions.

“This goes a long way to making us more competitive,” Kimberlin told council. “One of the biggest concerns we hear from convention planners trying to book events into the expo center is the lack of hotel rooms in the immediate area – this takes care of that. We also hear that the hotel rooms don’t connect to the expo center, and this takes care of that problem.”

Rick Baier, principal of Kansas City-based BC Development, one of four firms to propose a development plan for the site, drove in to speak at the meeting. He said that while he was disappointed BC Development wasn’t selected, the deal the city approved was best.

“We don’t feel that we’ve been mistreated in any fashion on this process,” Baier said, referring to speculation that Hammons had been preselected by the city before the process was complete. “We would have liked to have been the developer, but we’re not and we’re prepared to move on to other things. If the opportunity arises again, we’d like the chance to work again with the city.”

All council members agreed that the selection process led to the best result for the city, even if some parts could not be made public during negotiations.

“The process is frustrating to people from time to time, but I think it was made clear tonight that in the end, we’re going to get somewhere north of $60 (million) to $70 million in downtown investment,” Mayor Tom Carlson said before the vote.

Also on the agenda

Council voted 7-1 to renew the Downtown Wireless Internet Pilot Program.

The program is a joint venture launched in April 2005 by the city, Greene County, Urban Districts Alliance and Downtown Community Improvement District. Each group will contribute an equal portion of the $10,270 annual operating cost to run the program, which offers free Wi-Fi access to downtown business patrons and residents.

Doug Burlison was the only council member to vote against the bill; he said he wasn’t sure the city should be involved in the Internet-access business.

Councilman Dan Chiles, however, said the system is effective.

“We’d like to be able to hand this off to the private realm, but they seem to have lost interest in offering this sort of service,” Chiles said. “Given its success and its small cost – plus the fact that it brings to Springfield that creative class, those young people in their 20s that will be building a life here – I support it.”[[In-content Ad]]