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The city of Springfield is in a “wait and see” mode now that the deal is off that would’ve put a hotel in the vacant lot between the Expo Center and parking garage on St. Louis Street. The agreement between hotel developer John Q. Hammons and the city had already been extended once, and the two sides could not reach an agreement for another extension.Since the deal is off, the city cannow buy back the land from Hammons for one dollar. KSMU’s Missy Shelton reports.
The city of Springfield will now re-group and decide what to do with the parcel of land that sits next to the Expo Center. Springfield City Manager Greg Burris spoke to reporters after receiving word this week that developer John Q. Hammons will not build a hotel on the land.
Burris says, “It wasn’t a complete surprise to us. It’s unfortunate, obviously. We would have liked to have come to some sort of agreement but it is what it is, and it’s business.”
According to a press release from Hammons Hotels and letters Hammons himself sent the city, the developer needed more time. Hammons failed to meet an April 1st deadline for breaking ground on the hotel project. Hammons cited a bad economy and an inability to secure financing as the reasons for needing more time. But City Manager Greg Burris says the city wanted something in exchange for giving Hammons more time.
Burris says, “We felt like if we were going to grant another extension, we’d have to get something in return. With the economy the way it is, we were trying to negotiate some upgrades to the Expo Center because we thought that would benefit everybody. It would benefit the citizens of Springfield, everybody involved so that’s where we were focusing. We weren’t just asking for cash. We wanted to have something we could use to upgrade the Expo Center. We thought that would be something we potentially could negotiate. We couldn’t get there.”
The proposed upgrades would have cost Hammons around half a million dollars. Hammons sent the city a letter on April 13th in response to the city’s request for upgrades to the Expo Center. Hammons used the word ridiculous to describe a scenario in which he and the city couldn’t negotiate a second extension of the original deal. But in regards to the Expo Center upgrades the city was requesting, Hammons wrote in the letter, "to require half a million dollars for an extension fee is even more ridiculous."Regardless of who ends up building on the site, Burris says the Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau strongly believes that there needs to be a hotel on that land, preferably one that connects to the Expo Center.
Burris says, “What they have continued to say is that a hotel on that site is to Springfield’s best benefit. To have a hotel that’s connected to the Expo Center that is right next door to a parking garage is a real boon to the city. Quite frankly, I think we’re losing events that we could host there because we don’t have a hotel that’s connected to the Expo Center.”
Burris says he expects city council to take up the question of how to proceed in June. While no decisions have been made yet, he says it’s possible the city could request a new round of proposals for the site in the next few months, or it could hold on to the property until the economy improves. Hammons would be able to submit another proposal. Burris says at least one other developer has already expressed an interest in the property.
NOTE: Our call to Hammons Hotels and Resorts seeking an interview with a company representative has not been returned.
