Mar. 28--Denver Mayor Wellington Webb on Wednesday scrapped a plan to work with developer Bruce Berger on a $285 million convention-center hotel. 

Webb pulled the city out of the proposed 1,100-room downtown hotel project because Berger could not guarantee an opening date -- a critical factor now that the expansion of the Colorado Convention Center is started. 

"The Bergers have a site, but they have not been able to give us a date," Webb said. "They have engaged with Hyatt Hotels. But even with them in the program, given the same issues, they're not able to give us a date either. 

"That is not what I want," Webb said. "I want a date. I want to know when we're going to build a hotel. I want a process by which we might be given that date." 
 

Webb's new plan would have the city pay for the construction of the hotel. He said he is appointing a committee to recommend how to pay for the hotel and when the project would be completed. The committee is expected to unveil its proposal by April 15. 

"Some will think we are getting in over our heads," Webb said. "Others will wonder why it took us so long." 

Berger, who has been working with the city for four years, said he was "surprised and disappointed" by Webb's decision. 

"We were so close to a final deal with Hyatt and the city on a development deal," Berger said. "The need for the city to have certainty is the issue." 

Berger said he could not promise an opening date because banks and other lenders have been unwilling to lend money for hotel projects since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The uncertainty of financing made Berger reluctant to commit to a certain date. 

Berger's proposal called for a public subsidy of $55.3 million. The rest of the money would come from private sources -- investors, banks and other lenders. 

The details of the city-financed plan have not been established. 

Berger faced a deadline of Sunday to reach a development agreement with the Denver Urban Renewal Authority, which was handling the project on behalf of the city. Last week, Tracy Huggins, DURA executive director, asked the city for a 45-day extension. 

That development agreement would lay out the ground rules for Berger Realty and the city. Berger said he has spent "substantially more than $5 million" on the project so far. 

Webb's decision drew mixed reaction from members of the Denver City Council. 

Councilman Ed Thomas supported giving Berger 45 more days. "The mayor better have a damn good reason to pull the rug out from under the Bergers," Thomas said. 

But Councilwoman Elbra Wedgeworth, whose district includes downtown, said the city had to step in. "It was always assumed, although not in writing, that the hotel would be part of the convention center project," she said. "We owe it to the taxpayers to move forward." 

Wedgeworth said other hotels in downtown want the project completed. "All of the hotels want to make sure downtown is a viable place for people to visit," she said. "The hotels and restaurants and other businesses will be glad we quit being in limbo." 

Eugene Dilbeck, executive director of the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, said: "I'm very pleased that the mayor is taking a leadership role toward both projects (the expansion of the convention center and the hotel). It's a very positive move." Dilbeck said the city needs the extra hotel beds to serve the expanded convention center, which itself is costing the city $268 million. 

This summer, Denver is hosting a prominent group of meeting planners, the American Society of Association Executives, who will want to know whether the city can support larger conventions when the center expansion is completed in December 2004, Dilbeck said. Such a large convention center hotel would take at least two years to build, said Huggins. 

Berger's project has been plagued by delays -- switching hotel operators, fighting a lawsuit by a union for hotel workers, lining up private banks and investors to finance the project. 

But the project has a key advantage. Berger owns enough land to build the hotel at 14th and California streets, and Webb called it the "pre-eminent" site for a convention-center hotel. Currently, the land is used as a parking lot. 

Berger said he would consider selling the site to the city, but he declined to say how much money he would expect to receive. 

City officials declined to say whether they would pursue a hotel of the same size as proposed by Berger. Elizabeth Orr, special projects director for the city, said the city will review the cost and revenue estimates and will consider updating the feasibility study that was completed about five years ago for the Berger project. 

Webb's move would put the city in direct control of the hotel project. 

"The other process isn't working," Webb said. "It might work. I just don't know when it's going to work, and I don't have time to wait." 

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