Denton City Council weighing new deal for convention center

[Harry]

A new deal to bring a convention center to Denton has less risk for local taxpayers than the old one, but the developer still has asked for the city to give back the taxes the convention business would generate in exchange for the other business the project would bring to town.

Tim O’Reilly, who heads O’Reilly Hospitality Management in Springfield, Missouri, told the City Council earlier this year he and his investors remain bullish on building in Denton. After community support fizzled for a city-owned convention center last year, O’Reilly proposed to build the convention center privately. Instead of building on land next to the University of North Texas’ Apogee Stadium, the project is planned a little farther north on Interstate 35, at the southwest end of the Rayzor Ranch development.

The private investment includes about $5 million in public infrastructure, according to city documents.

In exchange for that private investment — and the new business the project would bring to Denton — O’Reilly has asked the city to rebate all the taxes collected with the project for the first 25 years. As current negotiations stand, the maximum amount O’Reilly would get back from sales, property and hotel occupancy taxes there would be $54 million, said Assistant City Manager Jon Fortune.

read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/local-news/local-news-headlines/20151107-developer-asks-for-taxes-back.ece

 

Edited November 8, 2015 by Harry

[James329]

Man, that location seems worse than the UNT one. I guess event attendees will have fun going to Taco Bueno and Winco. Maybe this will help that development in some way. Too bad it's impossible for this city to get this done near downtown.

[MEANGREENCOACH2]

The razor ranch area is fixing to blow up when the "shops at razor ranch" get complete.

[EagleMBA]

It's anchored by HEB, WinCo Foods and a Cinemark. The developer used Great Clips as an attraction to development. It won't be completed for 20 years (seriously). It's the next Stonehill. It's not high end, and Denton isn't going to support this kinda thing. I wish it would actually have been done right.

Judging by your development timeline, it could very well turn out to be the next Stonehenge!

[gksmith]

Need to think about a top level hotel. Any team and fans going to the game in Denton stay somewhere else outside of Denton. This is a missed revenue opportunity for the city and community.

[Andrew]

With people the people running city council do you really expect anything to be a success?

[GangGreen]

Need to think about a top level hotel. Any team and fans going to the game in Denton stay somewhere else outside of Denton. This is a missed revenue opportunity for the city and community.

you got that right. I live out of town and try to make at least one game a year. We have stayed at the hotel on the golf course near alliance, because our other choices were the desert sands or the clayton house. I love Denton, but I would much rather stay in a nice hotel when I visit.

[TheWestie]

Need to think about a top level hotel. Any team and fans going to the game in Denton stay somewhere else outside of Denton. This is a missed revenue opportunity for the city and community.

THIS^^^^^^^^x1000000000

From what I understand the football teams that come to play us at Apogee stay at hotels down near Texas Motor Speedway or way down in Grapevine because no hotel in Denton has enough meeting space for their needs. We stay the nights before games at the Marriott at Champions Circle across from TMS because it has the room and equipment for the team breakfast and then all the team meetings and position coach breakout meetings before they head to Apogee. The visiting teams have the same needs. The nice Holiday Inn behind Johnny Carino's doesn't have the space. Neither does the Hilton Garden Inn over near Mayhill.

A D1 football team staying at a hotel costs a lot of money. That should benefit Denton.  


And beyond that, UNT is the third largest university in the state, but there is nowhere in the city for UNT to host any number of large conferences or events which we could be doing right now. Hosting conferences and stuff does nothing but boost our reputation and increase our influence and expose the school to more people. Without a convention center we're just participants in our given fields, instead of leaders. For example the Mayborn School of Journalism's conference each year is at the DFW Lakes Hilton right next to Grapevine Mills Mall. There are only a few hundred people who attend but there are a lot of breakout sessions with a dozen or so people in each group. So that's a lot of individual meeting spaces. If the Gateway Center were twice as big it would work. It's pathetic that if UNT were to host C-USA media days at the beginning of football season we couldn't do it in Denton.

Also, I don't know anybody that really likes to go to conferences/conventions/trade shows at places like Grapevine or Garland or Frisco, or (shudder) downtown Dallas. Where your only options are driving your rental car to crappy chain restaurants in strip malls. People yearn for somewhere like Denton for events. A vibrant downtown with local business and restaurants. AND ACTUAL BARS. Nice places to go walk around outside after being stuffed inside all day. If we build the right convention center, it's gonna be booked solid year-round and draw important events because of the things that Denton already has to offer.


Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with the City of Denton or the Denton CVB or the Chamber of Commerce or UNT (besides being an alum). I'm just sick and damn tired of seeing a butt-load of tax money and business going to boring-ass cookie-cutter places like Grapevine and Allen year after year. I hear people from all over the country say how impressed they were with Denton and UNT and how much they loved visiting this place. They say how much they wish they could have their event here but can't because we don't have the facilities.  

[Christopher Walker]

With people the people running city council do you really expect anything to be a success?

I love it when the ignorant unwittingly identify themselves.

The present Denton City Council is the most development-minded perhaps in the town's history. They're also just smart about it; the original deal, financing, and overall outlook of the convention center's first proposal became toxic realllllly fast. They were right to say no then.

Now? We'll see. I too want a quality hotel and convention center in town, but it has to be structured to best serve Denton now, 10 years from now, and 30 years from now.