Sept. 18–EDMOND — Partners in Development is receiving retail opportunity leads for the hotel and conference center in development at the northwest corner of Interstate 35 and Covell, said Steve Commons, assistant city manager.
The Edmond City Council approved the negotiated agreements in 2012 for developing the $25.5 million Hilton Garden Inn and conference center.
Agreements were approved by the city in October for developing the project. The hotel and conference center will be constructed simultaneously.
“In terms of the hotel aspect of it, I believe the Hilton Garden Inn franchise has been secured,” Commons said Tuesday to members of the Convention & Tourism Advisory Board Bureau. A starting date for construction has not been set but is anticipated by next spring, Commons said.
“I believe the next deadline for the developer is by Nov. 7, they need to have site plans and construction documents to us,” Commons said.
Design work is near completion for the north roadway, and will be finished once the developer finalizes some retail aspects of the project, Commons said.
“It’s a pleasant problem to have in that they’ve had some good connections with development opportunities,” Commons said. “Some of them are fairly large with their scale.”
The City Council will award the bids Oct. 7. The developer continues to make progress with infrastructure and utility locations at the site. Bids for water and sewer work are nearly completed. Bids for roadway improvements on the south side were received Tuesday.
Timing of the project is on schedule, but could slow down a bit by a building’s construction size to be decided by a retailer, Commons said.
Edmond Area Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Ken Moore said it’s important for the economy and the developers to begin expanding into market.
“We keep reminding the developers that we got into this for a hotel/conference center, and so again, we need to keep moving that forward,” Commons said. “We’re going to keep diligent about that and keeping all the deadlines we do have unless there is some extraordinary reason to adjust them.”
jcoburn@edmondsun.com — 341-2121
