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A 1,200-room "convention hotel," complete with spacious meeting halls and ornate ballrooms, would help Salt Lake City snare more conventions, city leaders agree, but why should residents subsidize it?
That hang-up, voiced by some members of the City Council, puts an interlocal agreement with Salt Lake County to hire a hotel consultant in limbo. A vote to move forward with the consultant — and likely downtown's megahotel — is set for Aug. 23.
But the mood on Tuesday was skeptical.
"We know there are a lot of developers circling this pot of money," said Councilman Luke Garrott. "Why is public financing needed?"
Councilman J.T. Martin worries a consultant possibly paid on commission could not be objective. And he wants to see more input from current hoteliers in the ream of studies trotted out by tourism officials, "because I don't see it here."
"We are talking about using tax dollars for something that would compete with other downtown hotels," he said. "We need to figure out a way to protect our city investors."
The idea for a convention headquarters hotel — it would dwarf the hotels dotting downtown's skyline as Utah's largest — has been bandied since the expansion of the Calvin L. Rampton Salt Palace Convention Center.
The need for "convention-quality" space and the existing stock of rooms is out of balance, says Scott Beck, president and CEO of Visit Salt Lake. As a result, he says, top-tier conventions are skipping Salt Lake City for Denver, San Antonio, San Diego, Phoenix, Anaheim, Calif., and elsewhere in the West.
"We have a really big box," he says about the convention center that just played host to the packed Outdoor Retailer convention. "But if you don't have a place to stay, you can't fill your big box."
Beck notes the public subsidy only would fund the hotel's public meeting space and parking garage — with low interest rates — making those elements a community amenity. The bulk of the hotel would be privately funded.
Mayor Ralph Becker says he is aware of "three or four" interested applicants and three or four possible locations near the Salt Palace. He says the chamber, which represents existing hotels, considers a convention hotel its "top priority."
"This is an approach that can work well for the city," Becker said.
Bob Farrington, the city's economic development director, pointed to studies in other markets that prove convention hotels draw business rather than "cannibalize" it. Without a public subsidy, Farrington says the debt service on such a large hotel would require room rates to hover near $350 per night.
Both Beck and Farrington pointed to other markets that saw convention headquarters hotels pay dividends within five years.
If an interlocal agreement is approved, three officials from Salt Lake City would join three officials from Salt Lake County to work with the consultant on writing the hotel bid.
Tax hikes OK'd for new SLC libraries
The Glendale and Marmalade neighborhoods can let out a big cheer — but get ready to be quiet.
The Salt Lake City Council on Tuesday approved separate tax hikes that will pay for construction and operating costs for a new library branch on the west side and another on west Capitol Hill.
Nobody spoke about the increases during a seconds-long public hearing.
By a 5-1 vote, the council adopted a $5.50 tax increase, based on an average $260,000 home, to fund construction of an $8.9-million Marmalade branch slated for 270 W. 500 North. The increase translates to an additional $38.30 a year for a $1 million commercial property. Councilman J.T. Martin was the lone dissenter.
The $8.2 million construction cost for the Glendale branch, planned at 1250 W. 1330 South, was funded by a 2009 tax hike.
By unanimous vote, the council also approved a tax boost of $14 per year for the average homeowner to cover each branch's operating costs, which would amount to about $100 a year for the average business. Those increases will take effect during the next fiscal year.
Derek P. Jensen