May 29–Covell 35 Partners received banking approval Wednesday for the financing of the Hilton Garden Inn, said Steve Commons, city manager.
The estimated total cost of the hotel conference center project is estimated to be about $30 million, according to Larry Stevens, city manager. The 158-room Hilton Garden Inn and Edmond Conference Center will be on the northwest corner of Interstate 35 and Covell Road near Covell and Sooner roads.
“There will be some documents the city council will have to amend to address some issues that came up in various conversations as they went through the lending process,” Commons said. “There were some things we needed to adjust in our documents to make the bank happy.”
The city council will address the item at a special meeting to be scheduled in early June, sometime other than June 8, when two council members will be gone, Commons said. City staff anticipates constructing the six-story project will take 18 months. Design changes in Hilton’s newest hotels will be incorporated.
“Because there’s public funds involved in the conference center, not the hotel, they have to follow the state bid law procedures, which sets a minimum of 21 days to bid it,” Commons said of awarding the contract.
Developers plan to bring national retailers to the site, said Janet Yowell, executive director of the Edmond Economic Development Authority.
Yowell said the economic impact of the hotel project alone will generate $8.2 million on an annual basis.
This takes into consideration that the property will be owned by the city for 15 years and off the property tax rolls, according to Janet Yowell, executive director of the Edmond Economic Development Authority. The hotel will employ approximately 70 people, she said.
The entire construction impact is about $45 million, she said earlier this year. The city has allotted $7 million for the land and the conference center.
