January 17, 2010 --When Nick Brake stood before the Owensboro City Commission on Tuesday and read a one-page letter designating The Malcolm Bryant Corp. as the preferred developer of a downtown Owensboro hotel, it was the culmination of a long, detailed process, arguably with the future of the entire downtown revitalization project hanging in the balance.

It officially began on May 14, when the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corp., of which Brake is president and CEO, issued a 4,500-word RFP (request for proposals) seeking developers for a full-service hotel. The RFP called for the hotel to be corporate managed, national or international chain-affiliated and recognized by the convention and meetings markets with at least 150 rooms.

That was just the start of the requirements for a hotel envisioned as the cornerstone of a downtown revitalization project backed by almost $80 million of public investment.

Interested parties were given 80 days to respond. A team made up of EDC staff members, Gateway Planning consultants and representatives from city and county governments would then review the proposals and recommend a developer to the Owensboro City Commission.

While some developers had expressed interest in the project even before the RFP was issued, it was distributed widely. No one knew how many proposals would be received.

"With the market for hotels, it was one of the worst times," Brake said last week.

Brake said one city he knew about issued an RFP for hotel developers last year and didn't receive even one proposal.

The Owensboro RFP produced five proposals. But only three of the five were viable, Brake said.

"One was way out in left field, and one was not really a developer," Brake said.

That left three, and all were viable with some kind of a local connection, he said.

"The biggest issue was being able to finance it," Brake said. "We were satisfied with getting three viable proposals. Financing was the heart of the matter. One had a pretty good track record, but they wanted to use government-backed bonds (for financing)."

That idea was quickly rejected by local government officials, Brake said, who wanted the project privately financed.

As the process wore on, one of the developers was unable to meet the deadline to demonstrate it could find the financing to do the project. That left Bryant's company.

"Malcolm's proposal came in as the most financially viable," Brake said. "It was all private."

Bryant was also the only developer that paid for a feasibility study, which resulted in his proposal for a 150-room, $20 million hotel. The other finalist proposed a $22 million, 175-room hotel.

With The Malcolm Bryant Corp., the committee members seeking a developer found themselves dealing with a company that has many requirements of its own. As Bryant said the day after his company was selected, the hotel and events center must succeed.

"Lodging is not only the most management intensive, but the most volatile and the most vulnerable to economic downtown and risk," Bryant said.

Primarily, Bryant wants to be sure that everyone involved in the reinventing of downtown Owensboro intends for it to be done right. "What is very important is for the public sector to set standards for development," he said.

Bryant has said more than once that the market for the hotel his company intends to build does not exist yet and will have to be created. Building the right kind of convention and events center, matched to what it will be used to attract, is the key, he said.

He has called for downtown officials to conduct a marketing and feasibility study for the events center to determine what niches the city can fill in the tourism business.

"It's much more than building it and hoping they come," he said. "The convention business is not a slam-dunk anymore. It's concerts, athletic events and entertainment. As I visit other arenas, they say don't get hung up on size. It gets down to what you have to provide to make you competitive."

The development agreement between Bryant's company and the city will need to address utility infrastructure, streetscape designs, traffic flow and the best way to enter and exit the hotel, Bryant said.

"We have a downtown master plan, but we haven't detailed it down," Bryant said.

People driving into the downtown area on Frederica Street should easily recognize they are entering a special area by the time they hit Fifth or Fourth streets, Bryant said.

"That will be the gateway," he said. "It needs to be well thought out. ... It is important to us that we all agree on that."

The overall look and feel of the core downtown area must be decided, Bryant said. "That's the first question my designer will ask," he said.

Owensboro Mayor Ron Payne said he's confident the city will live up to its responsibility to surround the hotel with a compelling, attractive downtown as laid out in the downtown master plan.

"I do, I really do," Payne said Friday. "The negotiations are already under way. In my conversations with Malcolm, he is very excited. We've got some issues to work out with Malcolm, and we will work them out. He will want some things, and we will want some things."

In 2009, city and county government raised insurance premium tax rates to pay for a $79.4 million downtown revitalization project. At the same time, construction began on a $40 million river wall project that will more than double the size of Smothers Park. Late last year, the city moved to purchase the state office building to make way for the hotel.

With all of that, developers can see that local government is serious, Payne said. When it was announced that Bryant's company had been selected, Payne said the news was good because other dominos were about to start falling.

"We've got a lot of things happening -- percolating is the better word," he said. "As more things happen, more things will happen."

Steve Vied, 691-7297, [email protected]

-----

To see more of the Messenger-Inquirer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.messenger-inquirer.com.

Copyright (c) 2010, Messenger-Inquirer, Owensboro, Ky.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.