Hotelier Hammons changes reservations

LOVELAND – Hotel developer John Q. Hammons has turned his attention
to the new Larimer County fairgrounds complex as the likely site for
a hotel-convention center.
Larimer County officials and a local representative for Hammons have
confirmed the two sides talked about an agreement to let Hammons
build at The Ranch, the official name for the fairgrounds.
“We have a piece of ground that may or may not work,´ said Jay Hardy,
general manager of The Ranch. “We’ve had some very preliminary site
planning discussions.”
The county land is the third location Hammons has considered in
Loveland for a hotel-convention center since March 2003, when he
first announced intentions to build a $35 million Embassy Suites
Hotel with 250 rooms and an 80,000-square-foot convention hall.
At first, Hammons said he was locked in on 20 acres on the west side
of Interstate 25, just south of the Fort Collins-Loveland Municipal
Airport. By the end of 2003, Hammons showed his interest in being
closer to The Ranch and its bustling Budweiser Events Center.
The hotelier confirmed in December 2003 he had talked to local
developer Martin Lind about building the project on Lind’s land on
the east side of I-25, located across the street from The Ranch on
the south side of Crossroads Boulevard.
Now Hammons’ attention has focused on The Ranch.
“He’s strictly with the county,” Lind acknowledged.
Hardy said Hammons is looking for at least 10 acres somewhere on the
243-acre fairgrounds property. Hardy declined to be specific about
the location. However, he left a clue by stating that Lind would be
“very much involved” in the process.
That would indicate Hammons is looking at land close to Lind’s
property, probably between Crossroads Boulevard and the Budweiser
Events Center.
Any development on that site would affect the realignment of the I-25
Frontage Road for both The Ranch and the Lind property, a 60-acre
parcel that Lind has tentatively called Eagle Crossing. Lind said he
expects to build retail and office uses at Eagle Crossing.
“Our only involvement is to make sure we provide the right land plan
next to them to make his (Hammons’) access all work,” Lind said.
Lind said he’s received a great deal of interest from potential users
who want to be close to The Ranch, but he won’t proceed with
marketing Eagle Crossing until the Embassy Suites project is settled.
“I think the Crossroads site is going to be real active once we get
that announcement,” he said.
Hammons could not be reached for comment on the Embassy Suites
project, but his senior executive in Colorado said her boss is “very
excited” about The Ranch location.
“He would like to see something in place (open) no later than
mid-2006,´ said Veanne Stocking, the Fort Collins-based regional vice
president for John Q. Hammons Hotels Inc. The company also owns three
other properties in Colorado, including the University Park Holiday
Inn in Fort Collins.
In order to achieve a mid-2006 opening, Stocking said the project
would need to be under construction by early summer of 2005.
She said the size of the project first unveiled by Hammons in early
2003 hasn’t been altered.
“Ultimately, he may decide the design could come in a little bit
different,” Stocking said. “But he’s certainly looking at a
good-sized convention house along with a full-service hotel.”
The original plans also called for Hammons to develop the
hotel-convention center on his own, then turn management of the
property over to his company.
If Hammons reaches an agreement with the county, it would not involve
a land sale, Hardy said.
“The county has made a commitment we will not get into the land sale
business,” Hardy said.
That leaves a long-term lease agreement as the primary option for Hammons.
“In terms of how long and how much, that’s the multi-million dollar
question,” Hardy said.
A hotel-convention center has always been part of a “potential
public-private commitment” at The Ranch, Hardy said. “It’s important
that a hotel is close by, whether it’s on our ground or immediately
adjacent.”