Nov. 10, 2010--Almost 10 months after a special committee recommended The Malcolm Bryant Corp. as the company to build a high-end hotel in downtown Owensboro, the city and Bryant have come to terms on the deal.

An ordinance laying out details of the agreement will be on the agenda for first reading at Tuesday's 5 p.m. City Commission meeting, Mayor Ron Payne said.

The approximately $20 million, 150-room, five- to seven story Hampton Inn & Suites will be constructed on the site of the former Daviess County jail immediately west of St. Elizabeth Street and north of Second Street. The front of the hotel will face the Ohio River, overlooking a large expanse of green space west of McConnell Plaza.

The terms of the agreement require that the hotel be finished and open by the time the convention and events center opens, probably in late 2013, Payne said.

Under the terms of the agreement, the Hampton Inn & Suites hotel will have a restaurant and a business center.

Bryant said the hotel will be built as a "destination" hotel.

Bryant's company will also have right of first refusal to build a second hotel in the downtown area if the need is there. Bryant said it will make sense for the two sister hotels to be able to refer customers to each other.

All along, Bryant has insisted that the hotel and convention and events center and other elements of downtown revitalization be done so well that success is assured. The terms of the agreement between his company and the city will see that through, he said.

"You'll see an agreement built on success for both sides," he said.

Earlier, Bryant said the hotel has the potential to be a true mixed-use project, with retail, office space and possibly a residential component.

Steve Vied, 691-7297, [email protected]

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