FAYETTEVILLE -- The City Council on Tuesday approved a contract with a private developer to build a hotel at the downtown arts corridor.
Council members voted 7-0 to authorize Mayor Lioneld Jordan to sign the contract. The city will sell half an acre at the southern end of the Walton Arts Center parking lot to Brian Reindl and his Reindl Properties company for nearly $1.25 million. Reindl also owns the property immediately south of the lot with the Metro building.
Wade Abernathy, bond projects and construction manager for the city, outlined a few changes to the contract since the council last discussed it Oct. 17. The hotel will have no more than 120 rooms. A previous proposal in 2021 called for 170 rooms, and a revision last year had 135 rooms.
The hotel also will have an off-site parking lot with at least 54 spaces and accompanying valet service at the southwest corner of Center Street and Gregg Avenue. Reindl will have to get a permit from the Planning Commission to use the lot. The contract has a provision saying if Reindl finds a different, "superior" lot, he can seek a permit from the commission to use that one instead.
Deed restrictions with the conditions for use of the hotel property will transfer over to any new owner.
Reindl will have to get a building permit within a year of the civic plaza of the arts corridor being complete, scheduled for August. Construction of the hotel will have to start within 60 days of the permit being issued and must wrap within two years. If the conditions aren't met, the city can buy back the property.
The civic plaza of the arts corridor, known as the Ramble, will replace the 290 spaces at the Walton Arts Center lot with a public gathering space. A new parking deck with 301 spaces on West Avenue north of Dickson Street is set to open soon.
A different development team plans to open a hotel as a private project at the northwest corner of Dickson Street and West Avenue. A third building, presented to the public in conceptual drawings as a "food hall," also is proposed for the northern end of the Walton Arts Center lot.
No one from the public spoke about the hotel contract Tuesday.
Jordan said city administrators have been working on a deal for a hotel in the arts corridor for about two years. He said he believed it will fit in well with the features at the Ramble. Having a hotel downtown to bring in sales-tax revenue will keep the city competitive with other regional cities, Jordan said.
Council Member Mike Wiederkehr, one of the representatives of downtown, said he had asked all questions he could think of and questions that others had brought up to him about the contract and was ready to move forward.
"When the horse is dead, it's time to dismount," Wiederkehr said.
In other business, the council voted 6-1 to vacate an alleyway running through property north of Gregg Avenue and Center Street. Developer Trinitas Ventures made the request to make room for a planned student housing complex. Council Member Teresa Turk voted against.
The council discussed potentially rerouting the alleyway to the north and west sides of the property as the Planning Commission had recommended. Members decided they would rather see planned communal green space there instead of an alleyway.
Council Member Sarah Moore made a motion to have the communal green space be accessible to the public. Council members split on the idea 4-3, with Jordan casting a fifth and deciding vote in favor of establishing a public access easement.
Jordan and Moore were joined by Turk, Holly Hertzberg and D'Andre Jones in making the green space publicly accessible. Wiederkehr, Scott Berna and Sarah Bunch voted against.
Drawings presented to the council showed a student-housing complex with seven stories on the west side and six stories on the east side. The complex is planned to have nearly 200 units and more than 500 beds, with a parking garage, fitness center and rooftop terrace.
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Fayettevilles City Council met Tuesday and approved:
A $188,900 contract with Stilwell Cultural Consulting in Fort Collins, Colo., to create an arts and culture master plan for the city.
A $200,000 nonmatching federal grant to expand the Police Departments wellness and resiliency program.
Allowing all electric bicycles with motors less than 750 watts to operate on paved trails in the city.
Rezoning the Ozark building at Mount Sequoyah to allow a coffee shop or cafe.
Source: Fayetteville