Hammons not building hotel at 17th and Q
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BY MATT OLBERDING / Lincoln Journal Star
In December, Missouri developer John Q. Hammons announced plans to build a $16 million, 150-room extended-stay Residence Inn by Marriott hotel at 17th and Q streets. But on Monday, the day the city was to open bids for the site, Hammons was nowhere to be found.
Dallas McGee, the city's assistant director of urban development, said he got a call from Hammons in the morning saying he would not be submitting a bid.
Hammons could not be reached for comment, but Scott Tarwater, vice president of operations for Hammons Hotels and Resorts, said Hammons no longer thought the site was "economically viable."
Apparently, others felt the same way. The city did not receive any bids for the site.
Rob Shull, general manager for The Cornhusker, which had expressed interest in submitting a proposal, said the hotel's ownership didn't bid because it was their understanding that they would have to lease the land from the city.
City Council member Jon Camp said that last week at The Cornhusker ribbon-cutting he was talking to a hotel official who said they were planning to bid.
"I'm surprised," Camp said.
He said that with "all the initial excitement" and all the work that was put into it, he anticipated at least two proposals.
Councilwoman Annette McRoy was supposed to be on a committee to review the bids, so she was taken aback and wondered if the deadline was being extended.
The proposed hotel was controversial because it would have required several existing business owners to move, and the city considered using eminent domain — the government's right to take private property for public use — to make that happen. The City Council, though, eventually approved the project but voted not to authorize using eminent domain.
After that vote in the early morning hours of March 1, Lynnie Green-Scheibeler, general manager of Embassy Suites, another Hammons' property, said Hammons would still submit a proposal even though it would be impossible to meet his preferred timeline of beginning construction in July.
Though Tarwater said the city's decision on eminent domain had nothing to do with Hammons' decision not to build a hotel at 17th and Q, Lincoln Mayor Coleen Seng said she thought it was a factor.
"It probably had some influence, but we have to let Mr. Hammons answer that," she said.
Seng and McGee both pointed out that Hammons often works with cities to assemble a site in order to acquire the land more cheaply.
Councilwoman Patte Newman stood firm on the council's decision not to authorize eminent domain.
"If it's because the council is not willing to use eminent domain, the free market will just have to take precedence," she said.
Seng said it bothered her that the community seemed to send a message that Hammons was going to have a difficult time with the hotel project.
"I feel he got a bad feel for that block," she said
Two people who own businesses on the site where the hotel would have been built said they didn't know what to make of Hammons' decision.
Rick Krueger, who along with his partners owns a parking lot that was targeted as part of the development, said he was shocked that Hammons didn't submit a bid.
"I can't believe it," he said. "I'm as surprised now as when I read it in the paper in December."
Mark Whitehead, who owns the U-Stop convenience store at 17th and Q, said that after all the hoops that both sides had jumped through, it was a little baffling that Hammons did not submit a bid.
"...(W)e could have spent our energy elsewhere over the past four to five months if people weren't going to bid on the property," he said.
Whitehead said that despite the lack of bids, he doesn't think the issue will go away.
"It will be interesting to see what happens going forward now."
McGee said that because the corner is part of the city's redevelopment plan for Antelope Valley, there is still an opportunity for future discussion about development.
But for now, plans for the block are on hold, he said.
"In the immediate future, I don't see anything happening with this block."
Tarwater said Hammons is "definitely interested in future development in Lincoln."
And he might even reconsider the 17th and Q location.
"You never say never with Mr. Hammons," Tarwater said.
Seng said she was going to be calling Hammons to emphasize all the good reasons to invest in Lincoln.
She said she was disappointed but still felt confident that Hammons wants to do business with Lincoln.
"I think he still wants to work with us."
Reach Matt Olberding at 473-2647 or molberding@journalstar.com. Reporter Deena Winter contributed to this story.
A timeline
Dec. 16: John Q. Hammons announces plans to build a
$16 million, 150-room Residence Inn by Marriott at 17th and Q streets.
Jan. 19: The Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Commission, with three of its nine members absent, fails to garner the required five votes to approve amending the Antelope Valley redevelopment plan to recommend the city be allowed to acquire and demolish property in Hammons' preferred location: the block bordered by 17th, 18th, P and Q streets.
Feb. 2: Over the objections of the affected business owners, the Planning Commission votes 7-1 to recommend approval of the project.
Feb. 28-March 1: In a marathon meeting that lasts more than 8 hours and continues into the following morning, the Lincoln City Council gives its OK to the hotel project but does not authorize the use of eminent domain, which would have allowed the city to take the private property if a sale price couldn't be agreed upon.
April 18: The city receives no bids for the project.
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