OGDEN -- Construction on a $13 million Hilton Garden Inn Hotel is expected to begin next year at The Junction development downtown, city officials announced Friday.
Mayor Matthew Godfrey, who serves as executive director of the Ogden Redevelopment Agency, has signed an agreement for the hotel with Layton developer Kevin Garn and Western States Lodging, a company based in Taylorsville, said Richard McConkie, the city's community and economic development director.
The RDA board, made up of the city council, will be responsible for final approval of the development agreement. The board is scheduled to discuss the agreement during a work session Tuesday night.
McConkie anticipates the agreement will be ratified by the end of the year.
"I expect the RDA board to be very supportive of this because it fits in with their vision for downtown," he said.
Godfrey said he's excited about the prospect of a new hotel downtown.
"It does more than plug an empty lot," he said Friday. "It brings activity to The Junction and helps the Ogden Eccles Conference Center book larger conventions."
The four-story hotel will be on about an acre at the northwest corner of 23rd Street and Washington Boulevard that will be purchased from the RDA for about $1.5 million, said Tom Christopulos, the city's business development manager.
The hotel will have about 120 rooms, 8,000 square feet of retail space and underground public parking. Construction is slated to begin by late next spring and to finish in June 2012, McConkie said.
The RDA plans to offer Garn about $1.5 million in tax increment financing to help bridge the gap in construction costs, Christopulos said.
Tax increment financing is a tool that captures projected property tax revenue created by a development and then allows those funds to be invested for improvements associated with the project.
The underground parking facility will cost about $3 million and will be owned by the RDA.
The city is applying for a $1.5 million U.S. Economic Development Administration grant, and the remaining amount needed for the garage would be funded by Garn through a special assessment area bond, Christopulos said. The special assessment area would be created to encompass just the footprint of the hotel.
Garn, who could not be reached for comment Friday, will own the hotel; Western States Lodging will develop and manage the facility.
Andy Pettingill, director of hotel operations for Western States Lodging, said his company is looking forward to operating in Ogden.
"If we can make happen what we think we can, it will be really good for us and good for Ogden," he said.
Western States Lodging has constructed numerous hotels in Utah, including the Hilton Garden Inn and Conference Center and Towne Place Suites, both in Layton, and Spring Hill Suites in Logan. The company is also building the Home2 Suites for Hilton in Layton.
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