Hospitality & Tourism  October 25, 2016

Developer Stephen Tebo proposes addition to Boulder University Inn

BOULDER — Local developer Stephen Tebo will go before the Boulder Planning Board next week to pitch a 73-room addition to his Boulder University Inn hotel at 1632 Broadway.

The concept review and public hearing will allow Tebo and designers to gather feedback from the planning board and community members before filing a more-formal development-review application.

Tebo said in an interview Tuesday that one of the things he’ll be looking to find out is whether the new building — to be constructed on a half-acre site just south of the Boulder University Inn — will be able to be considered an addition to the existing hotel or whether he’ll have to make it a standalone entity. He said some of the code-related upgrades that might be required at the current hotel site if an addition were built, such as landscaping upgrades, wouldn’t be feasible because they would displace too much parking.

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Regardless of the semantics, plans submitted to the city show that the newly proposed building would not be physically attached to the Boulder University Inn. The new three-story building would sit on two parcels, 1600 and 1622 Broadway. The two small commercial buildings on those sites now — which are home to DP Dough and Know Thai Café — would be demolished.

The 41,606-square-foot building would include underground parking and sit at the northeast corner of Broadway and Marine Street. Tebo said that if all goes well, he’d like to break ground on the project a year from now.

The new building would be in close proximity to a planned hotel and parking garage on University Hill slated for the west side of Broadway between Pleasant Street and University Avenue. The city of Boulder and the University of Colorado, meanwhile, have also been in discussions about partnering on a hotel and conference center on the east side of Broadway near Grandview Avenue.

But Tebo said his location directly between the CU campus and downtown Boulder is strong enough by itself even without the proposed conference center. He said the Boulder University Inn — which underwent interior renovations to its 40 rooms in recent years — was at 92 percent occupancy over the summer.

“We feel that because of our location … we can justify (building more rooms) regardless of what else happens,” Tebo said.

Tebo’s proposal would require a rezoning of his two parcels from Business Transitional 2 to Downtown 3 to increase the allowable floor-area ratio at the site. The proposal would also require gaining an exemption from the city’s two-year moratorium on granting building-height exceptions.

While the hotel’s façade would comply with the city’s 35-foot height limit on most sides, including the side facing Broadway, a steep dropoff on the northeast corner of the site would make the building stand more than 40 feet above ground level at that point. The developer is seeking an exception up to 48 feet.

The city’s height moratorium expires next spring, but Tebo said he’s hoping the topographic challenges at the back of the site helps gain an exemption in the meantime.

BOULDER — Local developer Stephen Tebo will go before the Boulder Planning Board next week to pitch a 73-room addition to his Boulder University Inn hotel at 1632 Broadway.

The concept review and public hearing will allow Tebo and designers to gather feedback from the planning board and community members before filing a more-formal development-review application.

Tebo said in an interview Tuesday that one of the things he’ll be looking to find out is whether the new building — to be constructed on a half-acre site just south of the Boulder University Inn — will be able to be considered an addition…

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