[Boisebro]

this sounds very promising!


New option emerges for Downtown convention center

By Joe Estrella
Idaho Statesman | Edition Date: 10/18/06

Boise’s largest Downtown landlord and a national hotelier have come up with a plan that could give the city its new Downtown convention center.
Oppenheimer Development Corp. of Boise and John Q. Hammons Hotels Management LLC — whose properties include Hilton, Courtyard by Marriott and Embassy Suites — will present a proposal to the Greater Boise Auditorium District board of directors today for a hotel/convention center on a 220,000-square-foot piece of land the district owns between 11th and 13th streets.
The meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. today at the Boise Centre on The Grove.
Coonce declined to offer details about the joint venture’s proposal.
Jack Coonce, Oppenheimer Development vice president, confirmed that the two companies have created a joint venture, Hammons/Oppenheimer Associates, to explore the project.
City and local real estate experts believe a new convention center would breath life into a mostly barren stretch of former Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way between 9th and 15th, and set the stage for future downtown development.
Oppenheimer Development owns and manages 1 million square feet of real estate in Idaho and Wyoming, including two sites in Boise: the 200,000-square-foot Wells Fargo Center at 9th and Main streets, and the 220,000-square-foot One Capital Center, 720 W. Idaho St.
John Q. Hammons Hotels manages 63 hotels across the continental United States. Some of its other properties include the Mariott, Homewood Suites, Radisson, Renaissance, Residence Inn and Sheraton hotels.
Pat Rice, general manager of the Boise Centre on The Grove, said Coonce first brought up the issue a few months ago when he asked if the auditorium district “was still looking for a developer” for its proposed convention.
“Then he called me in Denver last Friday and wanted to know when they could make a presentation to the the board,” Rice said.
After two failed attempts to get voter approval for a new convention center, the auditorium district has been proceeding with a controversial plan calling for phased construction of a new facility using an additional $750,000 a year produced by a newly approved 1 percent increase in the city’s hotel room tax to 5 percent.
Rice said that whatever the plan proposed at today’s meeting, construction will have to be on the site owned by the auditorium district between 11th and 13th streets.
“That’s the only piece of land we control,” Rice said.


we've already got a courtyard marriott downtown, so i'm hoping it's a big hilton!
:banana:

[Boizean]

I'll certainly go with a big Hilton! I hope they post more info about the plan right after the meeting today.

[Boizean]

Here is the result from the meeting today.

New plan for Downtown convention center unveiled

By Joe Estrella
Edition Date: 10/18/06

The Greater Boise Auditorium District entered into an agreement today that could bring the city a new 130,000 square feet Downtown convention center and an 11-story, 286-room Embassy Suites Hotel by 2009.
The auditorium district board voted unanimously today to enter into exclusive negotiations on the estimated $80 million project with Hammons/Oppenheimer Associates, a joint venture between Oppenheimer Development Corp. of Boise and hotelier John Q. Hammons Hotel Management LLC.

Hammons, founder of some of the nation’s premier hotel chains, said the joint venture would raise the money to build the convention center and then lease it back to the auditorium district on a year-to -year basis. Pending a final agreement with the auditorium district, Hammons said construction could begin within 12 months, with an expected completion date 18 months later.

Auditorium District Chairman Stephenson Youngerman said he thought it would not take six months to negotiate a final agreement.

“The auditorium district will not be a drag on these negotiations,” he said. “We go along as rapidly as other people want to go.”

Hammons said the joint venture is talking to Capital City Development Corp. on a deal under which the city’s urban renewal agency would assist with financing on the convention center’s underground parking area.

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[Boisebro]

hmmmm. interesting.

though this part is a little confusing:

Statesman Homepage News Entertainment Idaho Outdoors Classifieds Jobs Homes Apts Cars Shopping Customer Service About IdahoStatesman.com About the Real Cities Network Terms of Use & Privacy Statement Copyright

i was hoping for three things:
1 - a bigger convention center. 130K square feet isn't much bigger than the existing facility. i'm not sure this will address the needs... weren't they planning on building a 200,0000sq ft center?
2 - a bigger hotel; 11 floors is only the size of the hampton, though maybe it'll have a bigger footprint
3 - a more prestigious chain than embassy; where's our hilton?

oh well. at least it's something.

[Bodo_business]

KTVB is reporting a CC size of 290,000 sqft.

[Boisebro]

lol...

that would make much more sense. though i find it absolutely unbelievable that the statesman would make such an error.
;)

[Mr.Boisean]

11 story embassy suites? Thats not nearly big enough to support the convention center, or the area. Not happy about that.

[Bodo_business]

What is really interesting to me is that John Q. Hammons was one of companies competing for the Grove site over a decade ago. This proposal appears quite similar to what they proposed at that time, with the exception of the convention center. KTVB calls it a "luxury" hotel, but I don't know that I would classify Embassy Suites as a luxury brand. It is situation below Hilton in the Hilton Family. Would much prefer a Hilton, Hyatt, or Marriot downtown. However, I do have to say that I have stayed in Hammons properties before, including Embassy Suites, and they are very well run and maintained properties.

[Boisebro]

don't get me wrong, the embassy suites i've stayed in across the country are very nice hotels.

but they're not the "big-name" brand this city needs, like a hilton or hyatt.

who knows. i'll withhold (some) judgement until i see the design. i just hope it isn't a huge footprint that takes up a whole block or something... i'd prefer taller and skinner to big and bulky. and i also wonder if that 11-floors includes a parking garage, or (wishful thinking) is 11 floors of hotel on top of a few floors of parking?

[Bodo_business]

I have also heard from a number of reasonably well connected sources that if/when a new CC gets built, it will spawn 2-3 more large hotels.

[Boisebro]

i've heard that, too, though not from any insider sources... just hear-say and wishful thinkers.

[alphawolf]

Maybe this is the beginning of a trend for hotels to be built on the west side of downtown, more so than it already is.

[Mr.Boisean]

Maybe this is the beginning of a trend for hotels to be built on the west side of downtown, more so than it already is.
I hope so... that area is ripe for redevelopment.

[Boizean]

The lot for this is only (as reported anyway) 220,000 s.f. If I understand the article correctly, both will have to reside on this lot. Also, isn't the new convention center supposed to be two floors?

This could mean a couple of things I suppose. One is that the hotel would be above the convention center. Two that the hotel will take up some of the lot space which would reduce the footprint of the convention center.

This leaves us to wonder about the parking. Will it still be underground for the center still or will there be a large cc/hotel combination garage above ground next to both or will Boisebro's hopes come true that it's all below the 11 story hotel.

If KTVB reports 290,000 s.f. That's around 145,000 s.f foot print for two floors which leaves 75,000 s.f. for the unloading area, hotel and parking.

To further disect the possiblities, does anybody know how many rooms the Hampton has? (and wasn't it referred to as a 7 story hotel? Give you a little hope there Boisebro.)

[alphawolf]

286 if I'm not mistaken.

[Boizean]

Just found it. The Hampton Inn & Suites downtown has 186 rooms. http://www.hamptonboise.com/

186 rooms / 7 floors = around 27 rooms a floor.
286 rooms / 11 floors = 26 rooms a floor.

If the hotel is a full 11 floors then I would suspect that the footprint would be much like the Hampton in size.

If the parking structure is under the hotel then of course the footprint will increase. This sounds like the more likely senario since all Embassy Suites hotels I've seen generally have a large boxy footprint. The one outside PDX is a good example and is fairly new.

[jthomps4]

according to ktvb, the hotel will be on the east side of the lot with the convention center on the west side. it looks like the hotel will take up about 1/4 of the lot. parking will be underground

[Mr.Boisean]

according to ktvb, the hotel will be on the east side of the lot with the convention center on the west side. it looks like the hotel will take up about 1/4 of the lot. parking will be underground
I can live with that. A smaller footprint means a taller building.

[Boisebro]

186 rooms / 7 floors = around 27 rooms a floor.
286 rooms / 11 floors = 26 rooms a floor.


i'd doubt that rooms would be on all 11 floors. if parking is underground, i'd imagine the first floor or two will be for the lobby, hotel offices, meeting rooms, restaurants, etc.

which means:

286 rooms / 11 floors = 32 rooms a floor
:shrug:

[IdahoMountainBoy]

I'm sorry, but who the hell cares at this point about the size of the hotel, just put something on those damn ugly lots :whip:

[Boisebro]

from kbci:


Plans Unveiled For New Convention Center

It's the project that continues to come back, a new convention center in Boise. But this time several private developers are pitching their own plans as the Boise Auditorium District shows interest.

Voters said no twice to help pay for a new convention center off of Front Street, but that hasn't stopped the Auditorium District from pursuing other avenues to start the project.

Now, two well known private developers have stepped up, asking the Auditorium District to accept their plan to build and financially support what they think could total a $80 million complex Downtown and they're ready to move forward.

It's been an eye sore for years, but when voters said no to paying for a convention center, the Auditorium District didn't stop pursing their development dreams. On Wednesday those dreams seem one step closer to becoming reality.

"We feel we've got the right team here to make this happen," Skip Oppenheimer, of Oppenheimer Development Corporation, told CBS 2 News about the new convention center plan.

Oppenheimer Development Corporation and John Q. Hammons, a major national hotel builder, have joined forces. In front of Auditorium District board members, the developer duo pitched their proposal to build a major complex between 11th and 13th Street, and the District agreed to give them six months of exclusive rights to negotiate their ideas.

If the private developers get their way a luxury hotel, parking structure and convention center would be built along Front Street.It's a proposal that critics say their going to watch very closely.

"We have a vested interest in the lodging industry in Idaho and the state of Idaho," Chuck Everett with AmeriTel Inns said when asked about new proposal.

Everett is the Operations Manager for AmeriTel Inns, the largest owned and operated hotel company in Idaho. :hell:

"That gives us, we think a pretty good leg up to, to make sure that all the T's are crossed and I's are dotted," he said.

Everett has criticized the Auditorium District for trying to get taxpayers to pay for a convention center, a project he feels should stay in the private sector. And that's what the Auditorium District is banking on when it comes to the future of this gravel pit.

In preliminary plans, the hotel will have 254 rooms and the convention center would sit on about 130,000 square feet of land.
:shrug:

The District plans to meet in the next several weeks to start getting all the details ironed out.Once a solid proposal is finished they will take it to the city and to CCDC for input.

If everyone agrees with the proposal, building could start in a couple of years.

[el conquistador]

Chuck Everett is a d!ck. But, the only way to get this thing done was to have it done privately. Hopefully this will be the case, it is really needed.

[Boisebro]

the statesman article is a little more disturbing, with quotes from our two favorite people (everett and fraiser).

there's also a map of where the facility would be built, with the hotel tower on the east edge (looks pretty big).

i couldn't find the article online, but it did reiterate that the center will be "130,000 sq feet or 40,000 more than the existing facility."

i wish someone would confirm the size of this thing... 130K isn't much of an improvement. :yuck:

[Boizean]

Here's a scan of the layout.

Looks like it's a 10 story hotel with 254 rooms above the lobby hotel conference area.

http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/6791/conventioncenterbx0.jpg

[Mr.Boisean]

130,000 sq ft.....? That cant be right. And if it is...god damn it.

[Boisebro]

and only 65,000sq ft of functional space.

why even bother? :hell:

[Bodo_business]

I get so sick of the AmeriTel tactics. Why don't they put all that energy to work in a good way and build a property downtown?

[Cottonwood]

:previous: Ameritel seems to be against downtown lodging for some strange reason.

[Boisebro]

i have a theory. it's mine and i own it, this theory of mine, which i have, is mine, and is along the following lines.

i think the 290,000 sq ft quoted on KTVB includes the hotel and convention center, not just the convention center.

that is the theory i have which is mine and what my theory is, which it is.

[el conquistador]

:previous:

Bro, is this theory of yours in any way related to your theory that a Brontosaurus is very small in the beginning, becomes very large in the middle, and then small again at the end? :D

Anyway, my theory about the AmeriTel owner is that he is a douchemonkey and knows that if he were to enter the downtown market people would find out fast that his hotels suck. Plus, the guy has a big Bill Sali campaign sign in front of his hotel at Edwards, so it's safe to say he doesn't play with a full deck. :koko:

[Dale]

I can tell you that John Q. Hammons gets things done, just based on his past projects.

[Boizean]

Since this is all very preliminary I suspect there will be some changes coming in the next few months when they reveal a more final proposal. Maybe for the better. Will wait and see.

[Boizean]

The hotel has already been listed on Emporis.

[Boisebro]

including a height of 120 feet. seems on the low end for a 11-story structure, but the whole thing's probably extremely preliminary, anyway.

[Boizean]

The Hampton Inn is exactly the same, eleven floors at 120'.

Hopefully in six months they will change it to 12 floors and 131' :tup:

[Boisebro]

couple bits of tid i found on IBR this week about the proposal:

- the convention center would be two floors with parking below ground, so i wonder if the 65K of usable space is accurate... maybe it's 65K per floor?
- the hotel is described as an "atrium-style"... i assume that means it's got the big hole in the middle, which would be a boise first

as usual, the more i hear, the more questions i have. oh well... patience...

[Cottonwood]

:previous: It is strange how every news source; the papers, and news channel websites all have reported different SFootage.

[Boisebro]

typical boise media.

seems like the Boise Weekly and IBR are the most accurate in these types of stories.

[Sawtooth]

There has been some large trucks on the lot off and on lately.
Maybe somebody from the IBR has some inside info they can share?

[nobody]

Aren't they just starting out building an underground parking garage and going form there? I can't remember where I read that, though.

[SLC Projects]

Right on Boise! Getting a new convention center and hotel. :tup:

So is the hotel 10-stories?....11-stories or 12-stories? :shrug:

Reading these posts I'm getting three different floorplans. LOL.


But doesn't downtown Boise already have a convention center? :shrug:

[Boizean]

The Hotel was proposed at 10 stories above the lobby (11 total).

The current convention center is too small. Many events have been turned away because of lack of space. It's really just moving to a larger location two blocks away.

[el conquistador]

Boise does have a convention center, SLC, but it is undersized and Boise is starting to miss out on some larger opportunities that it could get with more adequate center space. Tried to pass a bond, and it technically got a majority vote, but we have a half-assed supermajority rule so it failed. Plus, there is a local chain hotel owner who refuses to build downtown and fights every public proposal to build or add on to the convention center, so the next logical step was to go private with it. Hopefully this project is a go, it is very much needed and will bring even more revenue to the city.

[SLC Projects]

The Hotel was proposed at 10 stories above the lobby (11 total).

The current convention center is too small. Many events have been turned away because of lack of space. It's really just moving to a larger location two blocks away.



Oh ok, Thanks for the info Boizean.

[wrendog]

don't get too excited for big hotels with your CC.. SLC has a million sq ft CC with no big hotels

[Boizean]

I think we realize we won't get much with an 11 story (10) Embassy Suites Hotel. :(

[Cottonwood]

When the other convention center plan was out a few years ago, a few major hotel chains said they would build if the center was built. Besides the hotel which is part of this proposal there are some already proposed for downtown-- there is the boutique hotel which will be part of Boise Place, the hotel which is proposed for the Whole Foods development,
and some of the hotels downtown are under renovations, and the new Hampton hotel in BoDo is going to open this Spring. I would not be surprised at all if a few more hotels are announced for downtown this year. I would hope that the chains that said they would build a few years ago will decide to build hotels adjacent to this new center. According to our local convention bureau, Boise still needs more hotel rooms downtown as well as an expanded convention center to compete.

[Sawtooth]

A new hotel is under construction on Capitol Boulevard below the Depot.
I don't think there has been any news or renderings about this project.

[Boizean]

This was posted in the Boise Projects Thread awhile back:

Marriot Towne Place Suites
1455 S. Capitol Blvd.

4 floors @ 54'


(RCE 7819 Gary Brandon Enterprises Inc) THE TOWNE PLACE SUITES MARRIOTT - To construct a new 72,923 square feet, four story, wood framed, 123 unit motel with approximately 14,838 square feet for support area for meeting rooms, indoor swimming pool and spa, lobby with prep kitchen and 820 square feet of covered entry and patio area. NOTE: This building is required to have a NFPA 13 Fire Sprinkler system used for area increase. This permit does not include the interior swimming pool, spa and related pool equipment. A separate permits with approvals will be required prior to swimming pool construction. All construction per the approved plans and attached comment list. Note: Grading issued under BLD06-01822. MJP DRH 05-00277 CUP 05-55565 CVA05-00020

[Sawtooth]

:previous: A new Marriott right next to an existing Marriott brand suites hotel. :shrug:

[Boisebro]

i didn't realize there already was a mariott down there. the only hotel/motel i knew of on south capitol was the university inn (now closed) and the little motel on the west side of capitol that desperately needs to be replaced.

[Boizean]

I think he's referring to the Residence Inn that is back behind Elmer's and across from Pizza Hut.

[Sawtooth]

Yeah, that is the name, the marriott residence inn adjacent to the new hotel being built.