Hammons announces plans for downtown hotel

The five- to seven-story hotel with at least 400 rooms will be on the parking lot north of the convention center, on the south side of St. Louis Street and across from the Springfield Expo Center. Hammons said he plans to create a covered connection between the hotel and the convention center and, possibly, between the hotel and the expo center.

The project is slated to cost between $35 million and $40 million. Design will begin later this year, and construction is set to begin next year, with completion about a year and a half later.

Hammons would not disclose the hotel’s brand but said it would be a four-star property.

A contractor has not been selected.

Hammons also would not comment on what could happen with the vacant plot of land across the street, between the expo center and the Jordan Valley Car Park, that he had been in the running to develop. The Springfield Tax Abatement and Tax Increment Financing Commission voted Monday to consider two other proposals: HCW Evergreen LLC’s four-star hotel with optional office space and BKD’s two multistory office buildings.

Late last month, John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts officials appearing before the commission said another downtown hotel wasn't feasible, citing a citywide occupancy rate of 55 percent.

“We at John Q. Hammons Hotels just couldn’t make it work,” Senior Vice President of Development Scott Tarwater said at the time.

When asked today about the company's recent statement, Hammons had little explanation.

"That's a good question," he said. "There's not a good answer for it."