http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-906611.mp3
Kansas City, Mo. – A city council committee is recommending that the city council allocate a quarter of a million dollars on an option to buy the block that contains the Power and Light building for a downtown convention hotel.
The planning and zoning committee is sending the full council resolutions to continue studying the possibility of a 1,000 room hotel and to pay New York's Gailord Enterprises $250,000 to take the property off the market for the year or so that study is expected to take.
Bill George of the Convention and Visitors Association steering committee explained why a task force recommended a single site and the investment to hold it.
"We think it's important to keep everyone focused on a single site in order to get the best competitive response to RFPs," George said.
And, he says, competitive responses to the Requests for Proposals are crucial to completing the feasibility study.
If the city decides to build the hotel, the money would apply to the purchase price. If not, Gailord would keep the money.
A full council vote will be taken before the end of the month.