By Sam Thomas
BLOOMINGTON – A proposal to bring a hotel and conference center to downtown Bloomington has been put to rest.
That was the consensus Monday night at a Bloomington City Council meeting-of-the-whole following discussion by the Council after a presentation from Steve Friedman of SB Friedman Development Advisors.
Riverside Lodging Bloomington LLC requested $13 million in up-front City funding to bring a $52.7 million, 129-key hotel to the Front ‘N Center Building in downtown Bloomington.
“If we had $37 million, and they had guaranteed what they were bringing to the table…I think we very likely would have had a majority [of support.]” said Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner.
Renner said regardless of whether or not the plan had come to fruition, the city needs to keep its sights set on downtown development.
“If we could have had this home run, that would have been a major game changer. Whether we got this project or not, we were going to have to circle back and say, ‘what are our next steps in downtown’.” Renner said.
A number of deficiencies were outlined by the development group, ranging from a lack of commitment from hotel brands, to budget and costs uncertainties.
“This particular proposal was not acceptable to us,” Renner said. “This does not mean we don’t have the same resolve to revitalizing downtown Bloomington. We’re going to continue with some follow up steps.”
Those steps include a formal vote being taken next week on a resolution to adapt various provisions recommended by SB Friedman. Some of those provisions include the establishment of a TIF District and promoting downtown development in Bloomington.
Sam Thomas can be reached at Sam@WJBC.com.
