A luxury Four Seasons hotel will break ground early this year, with an expected completion date of 2004. The Four Seasons, 10-story, a 190,000-square-foot hotel, will be part of a $260 million redevelopment project known as University Circle being built on 12 acres of land near Highway 101 and University Avenue where a retail district known as Whiskey Gulch used to be.
In addition, University Circle Investors will develop three office buildings on the site. Two of those office buildings are under construction.
The hotel developer, LDW, says that the hotel could produce hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in hotel tax revenue. It is also expected to raise the profile of the city, as its rates of about $400 would be out of many current residents' league.
Nearby, several "big-box" stores, including Home Depot, Best Buy and Good Guys, are shaping the economic changes of the community. Many residents and city officials have embraced the changes, as these corporations are providing much-needed tax revenues to secure the city's economy.
Police and community efforts that have been made over the past ten years have considerably reduced the amount of neighborhood crime, lowered the rate of poverty and increased the city's economic status. Property values have also shot up, causing many African Americans who bought homes at low rates several years ago to sell their properties.
However, many residents of the area, which is centrally located between Palo Alto and San Francisco, are resisting change, saying that this blast of new development has created traffic congestion, a decrease in neighborhood business and a decline in the African American community.
These residents have fought a recent IKEA proposal, causing the City Council to delay any development decisions until after results of the March ballot. The IKEA store would bring in about $1 million in tax revenues annually if approved.
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