Salt Lake City: Official Development News Thread - Part 3

[Makid]

With regards to the CCH, it is confirmed that there are 5 to 6 sites that would work for the CCH.

The path chosen for the hotel as has been reported is that a developer will be chosen for the project first. This is based on the RFP which the format was just finalized recently and will be issued shortly.

The developer will then pick the location that they think will work best for the hotel and their pocket book. We need to remember that the public money is post performance (like nearly all state incentives).

This does mean that the developer will be picking the location that in essence gives them the fastest ROI. To do this, the developer would want to limit nearby competition to features and amenities included with the hotel (Bars, restaurants, shopping, etc.).

With this logic, RWP is basically the top pick. There isn't anything really around it right now. Eventually there will be more in the area as well as a street car but those will come slowly over time. This would give the developer the most return based on better use of their facilities rather than others.

Outside of the above, it is my understanding that no site is going to be shown as better or worse than any other. The reason for this is that the developer will be purchasing the land and any favoritism of a site over another may cause the acquisition costs to rise. With a fully competitive selection, the developer would be able to pit the land owners against each other to possibly bring prices down, which would further increase their ROI.

Lastly, I wouldn't expect to see the Salt Palace do an expansion directly for expansion sake until the CCH has been open for a year or 2 unless future convention bookings exceed the projected forecast. This may very well happen which is why I have said that I wouldn't be surprised to hear about another large hotel to be build near the Salt Palace after the CCH is under construction.

As for the location, I think we will hear about that shortly after the developer is selected.