• Category: Woodland Station News
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Tim Leigh (of Hoff&Leigh, the developer of the Woodland Station Hotel) gave a presentation to the Downtown Development Authority this afternoon, attended by around twenty five people (including council members, etc). The proposed hotel varied quite a bit from the lot assigned, so much of the meeting was spent explaining why the devations were necessary. Originally, the hotel was to be placed on a long lot elsewhere in the development; moving it to the southwest corner was a change (driven by the DDA) and posed some problems. Hoff & Leigh did what appears to be an excellent job of meeting the various requirements - street level parking, integration with the plaza, number of rooms, things like that. They appeared especially conscious of the public opposition to tall buildings, thus the hotel plan was limited to four stories above ground (another building already approved is five stories). It's a nice looking concept, though they wisely didn't get into the details much as they realized it's enough of a change from the original plan that it may not be OK with the DDA. The real issue with the concept presented was that it eliminated an eight thousand square foot retail building to be built by another developer. Obviously, that's something the DDA will have to work out with that particular developer (who was not present at this meeting).

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Another concern was with the roadway around the hotel...as proposed, it'll deviate from the current plan for Woodland Station which includes wide pedestrian walks, and instead be much more like a typical parking lot. It seems there's a tradeoff here the city may choose to make; perhaps sacrifice some of the above ground parking to enhance the pedestrian experience.

Some details about the proposed hotel: the main signage for the hotel would be off highway 24 at the entrance to Woodland Staiton (no big Hampton Inn signs on the rooftop, in other words). It'll be one of only three signs at highway 24 - one for the inn, one for Woodland Station in general, and one to promote the conference center and pavilion.The 78 rooms would probably go for $89-129 per night. Stone and timber accents will be used throughout, as well as whatever cosmetic treatment the DDA deems appropriate. Cost will be about $7.8million, and it'll take around 10-12 months to build. With opening date desired to be on Memorial Day, construction is not likely to start until 2009, with completion in the spring of 2010 (which is apparently in line with the overal plan for Woodland Station). The hotel will feature 80 above ground parking spots, and easy access to the underground parking garage. While no liquor license is forseen, there IS a chance the hotel may seek a beer license to serve the pool guests (in other words, no bar).

At next Tuesday's DDA meeting, the board will be discussing the proposal to eliminate the 8,000 square feet of retail space in more detail, as well as the other issues raised. See below for pictures from the presentation (note, some of the pictures are distorted a bit, that's an artifact of the camera position and Photoshop work, not the presentation itself).