Plans to build a hotel/conference center and mixed-use multi-family urban grocer component in downtown Columbus are facing some potential changes and delays in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
City Redevelopment Director Heather Pope said Monday during a redevelopment commission meeting that while the city originally hoped that the two projects could begin construction simultaneously, it now looks like they will “take different paths.”
“We are working with Flaherty & Collins, who’s the developer of the mixed-use, multifamily, urban grocer component,” Pope said. “And they’re fine-tuning their numbers and going to re-review their proposal that they provided to us back in October and will make sure that everything still lines up and get that to us hopefully in the next couple weeks.”
On the other hand, Pope said that while Sprague Hotel Developers are “still very interested in the project,” the company is going to hold off on moving forward until the hospitality industry, which has faced challenges due to the pandemic, “starts revamping.”
According to the American Hotel Lodging Association (AHLA) and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 7.7 million hospitality and leisure jobs were lost in April. The AHLA also reported that hotels are “currently on pace to lose up to $400 million in room revenue per day based on current occupancy rates and revenue trends.”
Pope said, “And in the end, the product that they had originally proposed may change, just as a result of this pandemic and people’s choices. So those two projects are still a go, you just will see one likely happen before the other.”
Columbus is working with Bartholomew County in a land swap that will result in the city’s new hotel and conference center being placed on a county-owned block surrounded by Second, Franklin, Third and Lafayette streets downtown.
With the exception of the Bartholomew County Court Services building on the northwest corner, the entire block currently serves as a parking lot.
The proposed hotel/conference center is a major component of the city’s 2018 Envision Columbus downtown strategic development plan. It has been described as a road map for the future of the commercial area of downtown Columbus and its neighboring residential areas and parks.
Last November, the Columbus Redevelopment Commission voted to approve a recommendation that Sprague Hotel Developers develop the hotel and conference center.
The city also engaged the services of Flaherty & Collins to work with Sprague on the development that will include:
A branded 140+ guest room hotel
9,000 square foot ballroom and conference space
A three-meal restaurant, roof-top dining and entertainment venue
A parking garage
The city plan commission has approved a request to rezone 11.12 acres in downtown Columbus in preparation for the future hotel conference center.
