| Last week, the field was narrowed
to four candidates: Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott or Renaissance. All
four indicate that public subsidies will be sought. The public
may be asked to help finance the hotel through federal income-tax
exemptions on bonds, direct city government subsidies or city
guarantees in order to help repay bondholders should the hotel
turn out to be unprofitable.
The hotel will be built across the street from the new
convention center and will be connected by a skywalk. Omaha
convention recruiters say their ability to attract large regional
conventions depends largely on having an anchor hotel near the
convention center.
All four proposals include amenities found in most convention
hotels such as ballrooms, meeting rooms, restaurants, indoor
pools and garages. Other statistics on the four finalists
include:
- Hyatt Hotels Corp. of Chicago would operate a 400-room hotel
developed by the Tynan Group Inc. and cost $86 million.
- Hilton Hotels Corp. of Chicago would operate a $66 million,
400-room hotel developed by Landmark Organization of Austin,
Texas.
- Marriott International Inc. of Dallas has proposed a
528-room hotel developed by Garfield Corp. of Dallas, Texas
which would cost $99.8 million to build.
- John Q. Hammons Hotels Inc. of Springfield, Missouri, would
develop and operate a 400-room hotel carrying the Renaissance
Hotel name. The cost would be $58.5 million.
The city's hotel selection committee consists of Bill
Protexter, Mayor Daub's chief of staff; Roger Dixon, executive
director of the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention
Authority; Paul Kratz, city attorney; Clare Duda, Douglas County
commissioner; and Stan Timm, acting city finance director. A
recommendation to the City Council is expected sometime around
July 1st.
|
