The winning group selected for negotiations to build an on campus hotel and conference center at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville is a partnership that includes out-of-state real estate and hospitality companies.

The bid from developer Acquest Realty Advisors Inc. and operator FLIK International Corp graded higher than another project finalist, University Hospitality Group, in the judgment of a university committee that evaluated the two groups’ proposals.

The hotel would be built near buildings that are part of the Sam M. Walton College of Business. UA announced negotiations would move forward with FLIK/Acquest in a Friday letter.

While UA will continue to own the land and utility infrastructure associated with the project, “the ownership and funding structures as well as management and leasing details will be a part of the negotiations,” Mark Rushing, UA spokesman, wrote in an email. He noted that the project originally had construction cost estimates of $32 million to $35 million.

Additional design work is still needed for the project, and Rushing estimated that negotiations will take from three to six months. Construction could begin as soon as six months after negotiations are complete. A contract would still be subject to approval from the University of Arkansas System board of trustees, according to Rushing.

Dave Ong, founder and president of Michigan-based Acquest Realty Advisors, said the group’s presentation to the university “is a flexible one in the sense of ultimately addressing the university’s needs, roomwise and otherwise.”

New York-based FLIK International is a wholly owned operating company of Compass Group, a food services management and support services company. Compass Group also includes Chartwells, which provides dining services for UA.

Representatives from the two project finalists gave presentations to a UA committee in February.

The FLIK/Acquest proposal “offered the University a probable lower level of financing costs, a probable lower level of required investment, and a greater level of experience in operating a hotel and conference center on a higher education campus,” wrote David Davies, assistant vice provost for finance and administration of student affairs, in a May 29 memorandum.

In 2012, PKF Consulting completed a market demand study done at the request of UA. The report noted that Walton College hosts over 140 events with over 8,700 attendees, and that the on campus Inn at Carnall Hall, with about 50 beds, has limited meeting and event space.

UA’s request for proposals published last year stated that consultants had recommended a 125- to 150-bed hotel, with a conference center expected to offer priority booking to university-related business. It also noted that building height should be four stories at its highest to align with the adjacent Walker Hall and Hunt Center buildings.

The FLIK/Acquest bid beat out University Hospitality Group, a Dallas-area group that listed among its leaders Gerald Alley, a UA alumnus and president of Arlington, Texas-based developer Con-Real.

The FLIK/Acquest group no longer includes Northwest Arkansas-based SC Retail, a collaboration between businessmen Dewitt Smith III and Tom Gordon, which was included in qualifying documents submitted to UA last year.