New hotel proposed for MidTowne Village

[GRDadof3]

Third Coast Development is looking to build a 5 story, 149 room hotel on top of a 2 story parking ramp on their parcel "A" of the MidTowne Village development. This would be the parcel directly behind (North of) the building that houses the new Omelette Shoppe. They are seeking a variance for height, parking, and green space requirements for the A parcel. It looks pretty good to me. Grant the amendment!

MidTowne Village Site Plan

Green - Omelette Shoppe and office space

Yellow - Park Row Condos

Blue - Women's Health Center

Red - New Hotel (Dudley Place)

Current lot:

East Elevation (Front of the hotel)

West Elevation (looking East)

North and South Elevations

First floor:

This is what was previously approved for parcel A:

[wolverine]

Awesome development!

It's great to see that area filling in with some density and height.

[Jocar]

Love the thought of a hotel going in there. Out of curiosity, would that hurt the sales of units in Park Row? Would the view of a hotel be a bad thing or would it not matter in any of your opinions?

[joeDowntown]

It looks like the height is about the same. I think it is a great idea, though I still don't quite know what the "hotel" in the RDV development will hold (or what kind of competition it will bring).

I drove past Midtowne Village yesterday and it looks fantastic. I can't wait to see what other developments will come about because of the neighborhood cleaning up so nicely.

Joe

One other question: With the proposed hotel, this leaves one other development spot open (south of the park). Does anyone know if a use has been chosen for this?

Joe

[GRDadof3]

Love the thought of a hotel going in there. Out of curiosity, would that hurt the sales of units in Park Row? Would the view of a hotel be a bad thing or would it not matter in any of your opinions?

[grcitydog]

This looks really great! It adds not only to the density of the development and gets rid of a surface lot , but also brings anothr option to the downtown hotel scene.

[Floyd Z]

This is very cool, I'm starting to like this development more and more. From the looks of it, this will be very visible from the highway and make the area even more dense. I also hope this will help spur development to the surrounding areas such as to the east.

[GRDadof3]

I just noticed too that all the "gridded" sections are actually outdoor plazas/patios on top of the parking garage. Nice job!

[Eridony]

Great! One less area reserved for parking only sounds great to me. The building will be very visible too, not only because it is so near the highway, but it should also be the tallest structure in the development.

[vandertown]

I really like the idea of hotel in this location (an easy walk for the people visiting Spectrum). Now, will this hinder the proposed hotel for north Monroe and is there a danger of adding too many rooms to the market?

[grcitydog]

I really like the idea of hotel in this location (an easy walk for the people visiting Spectrum). Now, will this hinder the proposed hotel for north Monroe and is there a danger of adding too many rooms to the market?

[GR8scott]

I would not be surprised if this is an extend-stay hotel aiding people who want to stay near the hospital or med school for a week or more, this would be a good location. Amerisuites and Hawthorn suites both pulled out of the market near the airport. Although I would love to see an Embassy suites in GR

[GRguy]

Looks a lot like the Hyatt Place prototype.

www.hyattdevelopment.com

[GRDadof3]

Looks a lot like the Hyatt Place prototype.

www.hyattdevelopment.com

[aowwt]

Personaly I dont like the dark wood colors. It be better if they had more lights in the pics. I find that look more of a 1980's urban feel than a contempory. In any case I do agree that a taller and larger stucture in that place is not a bad decision.

[GRDadof3]

Chris has a story in the Press today

It mentions that Third Coast is working with an out-of-state developer/partner, and that it could be a Hilton Garden Inn, Staybridge Suites, or Hyatt Place.

[DJL3CDP]

The hotel is proposed and not a done deal yet. There are a few hurdles that the owners will need to clear and this variance is one of them. The other issues revolve around a market study and financing. The good news is that the way these hotel things work, the lenders ususally require a thrid party market justification of the economics. So, if it goes forward, one can assume that the deal passed muster not just with the developers and their lender but with a specialized appraiser as well. Not that these appraisals are the final word, but they help.

Here is what we can say...the proposed structure is a 149 room hotel (not extended stay). If all goes well, guest's will be staying there by the summer of 2009. We are working with and representing an out-of-state Hotel Investment firm and we signed a non-disclosure with them so we cannot say who they are, where they are from, how many other hotels they have, where they have them, what brand they will be choosing or much else about them. Sorry!

As far as neighbor input we have had totally positive feedback. It will be great for the Medical Mile and the Mid Town Neighborhood. It will provide something like 40-50 direct jobs. Also, because of the night time activity, it will support the bars and restaurants in the area. The hotel will have a small bar/restaurant area but we are told that this is only to serve those guests who really dont want to leave. The thinking is that most of the time guests will head out on the town (or should I say the Towne?...sorry).

We could really use all of the support you can muster so if you are in favor of this project please show up to the Planning Commission on Thursday. If you are opposed, send us a letter (heh heh)

DJL

[DJL3CDP]

One other question: With the proposed hotel, this leaves one other development spot open (south of the park). Does anyone know if a use has been chosen for this?

Joe

[joeDowntown]

Cool. Thanks for the info. It's looking great so far!

Joe,

The space you reference (site C) is approved for a 30,000 sqft office building per the original plan. Presently, we have available space for tenants in the building on Michigan so we are not ready to do anything on this space yet. But, as soon as the first building is leased up (or if a larger tenant comes along) we will construct the office building on site C as well.

DJL

[GRDadof3]

The hotel is proposed and not a done deal yet. There are a few hurdles that the owners will need to clear and this variance is one of them. The other issues revolve around a market study and financing. The good news is that the way these hotel things work, the lenders ususally require a thrid party market justification of the economics. So, if it goes forward, one can assume that the deal passed muster not just with the developers and their lender but with a specialized appraiser as well. Not that these appraisals are the final word, but they help.

Here is what we can say...the proposed structure is a 149 room hotel (not extended stay). If all goes well, guest's will be staying there by the summer of 2009. We are working with and representing an out-of-state Hotel Investment firm and we signed a non-disclosure with them so we cannot say who they are, where they are from, how many other hotels they have, where they have them, what brand they will be choosing or much else about them. Sorry!

As far as neighbor input we have had totally positive feedback. It will be great for the Medical Mile and the Mid Town Neighborhood. It will provide something like 40-50 direct jobs. Also, because of the night time activity, it will support the bars and restaurants in the area. The hotel will have a small bar/restaurant area but we are told that this is only to serve those guests who really dont want to leave. The thinking is that most of the time guests will head out on the town (or should I say the Towne?...sorry).

We could really use all of the support you can muster so if you are in favor of this project please show up to the Planning Commission on Thursday. If you are opposed, send us a letter (heh heh)

DJL

[DJL3CDP]

Just to fill in the UP crowd on what is being asked in the application, here is the current zoning and what is being proposed:

Zoning Reg Current/Proposed

Building Height 55 feet, 4 stories/83 feet, 7 stories total (developer wants it taller)

Parking Max 179 spaces/201 spaces (developer wants more parking)

Parking Structure Active Use at ground or 5' setback with landscaping/No active use facing Dudley or Paris, Landscaping at Dudley (front)

Greenspace 20%/5% (developer proposing less greenspace on this particular parcel)

A 22 space surface lot is proposed for the parcel West of the hotel (I believe where the Park Row sales office is currently).

DJL, thanks for filling us in a bit more. Is the additional parking needed for the building on Michigan (Omelette Shoppe)?

[GRDadof3]

GRD,

Additional parking is to increase from the 1.5 levels that was originally approved. The parking is "for the development" not any specific building or tenant. We just thought it would be better to add it now as this location is getting more popular and once we build we wont be able to add it later.

One correction to your chart above:

Currently, the parking structure has no active use at ground level - the old rules did not require it. We are proposing an active use and MORE landscaping but it is not active enough for the current rules...hence the variance. In short, we are making it more compliant with the current rules not less.

Also, with regard to your other question, we can put only limited landscpaing in the park (we do plan to make it look better once construction is done) but remember that the water detention and the grey water recycling tanks are below that park so we are limited in what we can plant as it will not support complex root systems. (The gods of LEED sometimes taketh away when they giveth).

DJL

[DJL3CDP]

Thanks for the clarifications DJL! I was unaware that the village green served multiple functions. Interesting. Personally, I think it's a great looking development and will be an asset not just for Mid Towne Village but for all of downtown. Keeping in mind that I'm no trained professional planner, you have my vote! Any idea when you're supposed to hear more on the market study? If you can't say or don't know, no problem.

[highwayguy]

Fox 17 just reported that the new hotel will be a Hyatt Place.

[GRDadof3]

Fox 17 just reported that the new hotel will be a Hyatt Place.