May 31–The completed 90-day study from Gatehouse Capital gives a better understanding of what the proposed downtown hotel and convention center could look like, including the number of rooms, possible cost, and timetable of completion should the Odessa City Council approve the plan.
The $192,000 study from Gatehouse was put together by sending questionnaires to 500 members of the Odessa Chamber of Commerce in which 119 were returned, according to the study. Typically, between 5 percent and 10 percent is “statistically significant,” according to the report.
The survey of the group stated the proposed hotel would cater to multiplesmaller overnight groups rather than larger groups, as some of the respondents stated they would need no more than 50 rooms, according to the study. The study was given to members of the Chamber of Commerce because those groups mainly deal with tourism in the city, Odessa City Manager Richard Morton said.
Linda Sweatt, director of the convention and visitors bureau, said having a downtown hotel and convention center would give Odessa another avenue to host more people while also bringing more people to the area.
“A lot of trade shows have vendors,” Sweatt said. “With a new convention center, you would have more space to have those vendors display and set up their booths.”
The 90-day study was done by the Dallas-based Gatehouse Capital and third-party firms to assess the market and economic impact. Morton said the completed study, which is dated April 22, reaffirms a study done in 2012 by then-Main Street Odessa about bringing a hotel and convention center to the downtown area.
Last year, the city purchased 14,000 square feet of land next to the Ector Theatre for about $100,000, followed by buying lots belonging to Home Hospice for nearly $422,000. The Council later agreed to buy about $350,000 worth of land on East Fifth Street and North Jackson Avenue that officials said could be used for the convention center.
The design for the proposed building has gone through several different drawings and sizes, but council members voted Tuesday on a conceptual design with the proposed convention center facing North Texas Avenue, the hotel facing East Fifth Street, and a plaza area that would contain a restaurant, retail and a bar.
Morton said the Council’s vote was based on the 90-day study, and the one major change made was connecting the hotel to the convention center. The report also states the hotel, convention center, and the Ector Theatre would each have separate entrances.
“This is a result of the meetings that have happened … and everything else,” Morton said.
The study also states the hotel — the council has asked to pursue a Marriott brand — would also have a little more than 200 rooms. That would put it smaller than the 245 rooms reported at the MCM Grand? Hotel FunDome, but slightly larger than the 192 rooms at the MCM Elegant?.
Both of those hotels also contain meeting spaces.
The new plan also calls for the hotel to be 141,500 square feet, which is smaller than the 156,869 square feet originally proposed by Gatehouse Capital in their request for qualifications pitch. The convention center is also smaller than originally proposed, with the newest design being proposed at 54,100 square feet rather than 56,343 square feet.
The new conceptual drawing was not without questions, as Odessa City Councilwoman for District 3 Barbara Graff said she was not happy with the design, saying Tuesday the small size was not enough for the project to be a “wow factor.”
Morton, however, said the project is currently designed in a way that will allow council members to expand as they continue along the project. He also said because Odessa is not as large as Austin, Houston, or other major metropolitan areas, Odessa will not always attract larger conventions.
“We want this project to be a ‘wow’ project for downtown,” he said.
No price for the project has been announced, but officials have said they expect it to be between $60 million and $80 million. According to the study, the hotel alone, as it is designed, would cost about $42,073,743; a price Morton said would be absorbed by the private entity that builds the hotel.
To offset that cost, officials with the city have said they would offer incentives such as waiving permit and impact fees, and offering a 100 percent property tax rebate for the project, and an $800,000 cash grant from the city. They are also being offered a 100 percent on sales tax from the city.
The convention center, however, would be owned by the city and would require the municipality to use city funds, possibly from the Odessa Development Corporation, for the construction of the building.
Another possible incentive is on the way with the passage of House Bill 1964, paving the way for state tax money to be pledged to the developer of the project.
According to the bill, those funds can be used “for the payment of bonds or other obligations issued or incurred to acquire, lease, construct, and equip the hotel and any facilities ancillary to the hotel.”
Similar language was initially introduced in the House by Rep. Brooks Landgraf, but he essentially abandoned the bill after he said additions by other lawmakers pushed it beyond the scope that he desired.
Sen. Kel Seliger added this language to HB 1964, which was authored by Rep. Travis Clardy and cosponsored by Seliger.
City officials mentioned this potential way of incentivizing the hotel and convention center as a key piece to attracting a developer.
The bill was sent to Gov. Greg Abbott on May 20.
A tentative timeline for the project includes a nine-month design process and a 19-month construction timetable, which would put the completion of the project, conservatively, around April 2018.
Morton said since no deal has been agreed upon, the completion date could take longer.
Several members on the Council have expressed their satisfaction with the project as it has progressed, saying it will take time before actual designs are seen about what the inside of the proposed projects will look like.
Dewey Bryant, councilman for District 2, said concerns about the Ector Theatre cannot be addressed until they start seeing architectural renderings of the project. Bryant also said while the conceptual designs are a starting point, he is not sure exactly what he would want changed until he starts seeing a more accurate representation.
“You don’t build a church just for Easter Sunday,” he said.
Mike Gardner, councilman for District 4, expressed a similar sentiment, saying the purpose of the project is to help jumpstart the downtown economy and be built to keep people closer to the hospitals and the courthouse while offering a place to host meetings.
Gardner added Odessa lacks a good downtown anchor and said he hopes Marriott will take on the project, expressing faith in some of their previous ventures.
“Marriott knows what works and what brings people in,” he said.
— Contact Nathaniel Miller on twitter at @OAgovernment, on Facebook at OA Nathaniel Miller or call 432-333-7769
