Located at Howard and Fifth streets, the 32-story building includes 43,000 sf of meeting and function space on three levels designed to complement the convention center. Other amenities include the exclusive Club InterContinental lounge; a lobby-level upscale restaurant and bar; an 8,000-sf full-service spa and health club and; an indoor lap pool.
The design architect is Patri Merker Architects and the construction architect is Hornberger+Worstell. Brayton+Hughes Design Studio is the interior design firm. Webcor will be the project's general contractor.
CDC did not return a phone call Thursday seeking additional detail on the partnership. A source at InterContinental tells GlobeSt.com that InterContinental owns a minority stake in the property and will operate the property but that CDC is the majority partner and will lead the development. The hotel will be InterContinental's second hotel in the city.
CDC applied for permits to develop the property with a hotel in September 2000 and had to overcome much opposition from organizations concerned about such projects driving out the area's poorer residents. Original plans called for a 39-story building that included 70 market-rate condominium units on the top floors.
The proposal--minus seven stories and the condos--won approval from the planning commission in 2002. Six months later, former planning commission president Hector Chinchilla was indicted on seven conflict-of-interest charges brought by the District Attorney's Office. The charges stemmed from consulting work Chinchilla performed for three companies, including Continental Development, while they were applying to the commission for permits.
The indictment reportedly cost Chinchilla his reappointment, but it did not hinder the project. CDC gained the backing of local community organizations in part by offering them financial incentives and the backing of the hotel workers union by agreeing to recognize the union if a majority of the hotel workers authorized it.
Continue Reading for Free
Register and gain access to:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
