Hammons won’t build hotel
19.06.2006, 14:34
McKinney officials reacted differently to the news that John Q. Hammons Hotels would not be building the hotel for the Bridge Street Town Centre.
McKinney Mayor Bill Whitfield said the news came as a surprise to.
Hotels
"[The city] was real pleased we were going to have a hotel built by him," Whitfield said.
But McKinney Economic Development Corporation President David Pitstick said the news was no surprise to him.
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“I saw it coming for awhile,” Pitstick said. “There were just too many delays with this project, too many excuses not to be moving forward.”
Pitstick said the recent announcement that Hammons would not be building the 12-story, 250-room hotel for the Bridge Street Town Centre will not cause any major deterrents for the construction and has opened the doors for offers from other developers.
Pitstick said Hammons was very slow with the development of the hotel.
“He showed up three or four times over the past two years and made public announcements, shook some hands and flew to the airport on his private jet,” Pitstick said. “But he hasn't done any significant planning or undertaken any engineering of any significance, which was a telltale sign that we didn't think he was going to meet our agreed to time frames.”
He also said the city had contractual agreements with Hammons that prevented them from pursuing other offers. Friday's decision to break with Hammons lets them pursue companies that will possibly move a little faster.
“We just anticipated that he was not doing it based on his actions and his comments and we were the ones who initiated ending the agreement based on the fact that we anticipated they were not going to do the project,” Pitstick said. “If we had done nothing, we'd be making this announcement five or six months from now.”
But Whitfield said he understands Hammons' uneasy feelings toward the development of U.S. 75 and State Highway 121 as stated earlier by Hammons Senior Vice President Scott Tarwater.
“Let's be realistic,” Whitfield said. “This road has been held up for some two years and it's been held up by the study on [SH] 121. The [Texas] Transportation Council passed reasonable mobility, which was a package of $6.5 billion for roads in the Metroplex, and Collin County was holed out...We're at least two years behind everybody.
“They study things to death,” Whitfield added. “That's what happens. I hate to say it, but this whole project has been delayed because of this holding up SH 121 and the discussion of it and this is how it hurts us.”
But Pitstick said the development will go ahead as planned and he already has some meetings lined up with hotel developers in the coming weeks.
“These projects do take a lot of time and they take a big investment and they have a lot of issues to deal with, but our decision to move on to another development company is a big relief and I am absolutely convinced we're going to get a very nice, first class, full service, brand new convention center down there,” Pitstick said. “I still feel very good about it.”