Westin Hotel in works for Lower Broadway

Arkansas developer is in early stages of government approval process

Email | Print By Richard Lawson

05-23-2006 11:18 AM — Lower Broadway could be home to Westin Hotel, if a Springdale, Ark.-developer that is proposing the project can make it happen.

Over the past couple of months, The Barber Group, along with Denver-based development partner Sage Hospitality Resources, has had initial contacts with city planners and the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency on a plan to build a 220-foot tall Westin along Broadway between Second and Third Avenues South.

Phil Ryan, MDHA's executive director, said he hasn't seen the full details of a final plan yet from the developer. "We expect to see something in June," he said.

This project isn't eligible for tax-increment financing because of the hotel. "Hotels are not a priority for TIF," Ryan said.

The development group has the necessary property under contract. But this development is in the early stages. In addition to government hurdles, the developer likely still has to work with lenders on meeting financing requirements.

"We are working through those processes," said Brad Robinette, senior vice president with Sage Hospitality.

The final number of hotel rooms hasn't been determined yet, nor how other space will be used. Robinette said the project would be primarily hotel with a secondary residential component. It also would have room for a restaurant, as well as meeting and ballroom space.

Sage Hospitality has 51 mostly full-service hotels across the country, including major brands such as Marriott, Hilton and Sheraton. Sage also is managing the independently owned 21c Museum Hotel in Louisville, a new 91-room hotel in a redeveloping part of the city that has drawn a lot of attention for its uniqueness.

That hotel includes an upscale restaurant called Proof on Main. "From a stature standpoint, we would try and have that same thing in Nashville," Robinette said.

Proof on Main is owned by New York City-based Myriad Restaurant Group. That company has some posh restaurants around the country such as Tribeca Grille in New York.

Robinette said the biggest issue is that the site is in a redevelopment district. Redevelopment districts have design guidelines that must be met, and the block includes historic buildings.

"We are trying to be respectful of all those issues before we put the program forward in June," Robinette said.

That is an important factor for MDHA. "We wouldn't want to do anything that endangers the historic character of lower Broadway," Ryan said.

Sources have told NashvillePost.com that early drawings for the project included tearing down the buildings facing Broadway, including the one housing western wear store Trail West. Joe's Crab Shack and two small buildings on Third Avenue South wouldn't be affected. The Richards & Richards building on Third, however, would be demolished.

As originally designed, the project's street-level design would be in keeping with Broadway with frontage rising 42 feet and the hotel rising 90 feet away from the street. But the developer has been asked to figure out a way to spare the facades of some of the historic lower Broadway buildings.

Developers nearby would welcome the project.

"Provided the integrity of Broadway is not damaged, I think it is important for Broadway," said Michael Hayes, Nashville development director for Struever Brothers, Eccles & Rouse Inc., which is developing the land around the new riverfront ballpark for the Nashville Sounds. "It would really strengthen Broadway and provide an infusion of people."

Developer Tony Giarratana, who is building the 20-story condo project Encore a couple blocks away, said The Barber Group's proposal is exciting for downtown. "It seems all major hotel companies are focused on Nashville due to talk of a new convention center, ballpark announcement and over $1.5 billion in downtown investment since 2000," Giarratana said.

Tom Turner, director of the Nashville Downtown Partnership, added that "Westin would be a great fit for the downtown market."

Nashville's downtown hotel market has been strong this year, with occupancy pushing past 79 percent and average daily rates exceeding $127, according to the latest available report from industry monitor Smith Travel Research.

The Barber Group's proposal is the fourth hotel planned in or near downtown. Struever Bros. has one proposed next to the ballpark. Giarratana has plans for one in his 65-story Signature Tower and Alex S. Palmer & Co. recently announced a deal with InterContinental for its planned $250-million West End Summit office and hotel project.

Developers say that not all of those plans will necessarily come to fruition. A new convention center, however, may alter that equation.

The Barber Group has a high-end condominium and retail project under construction in downtown Fayetteville, Ark. That project, dubbed The Legacy Building, will have 37 condominiums and street-level restaurant and retail space when the seven-story development is complete. The units are selling at prices around $275 to $305 per square foot, rivaling what some new units in downtown Nashville are commanding.

The developer, however, has had a tougher time with another project in downtown Fayetteville, a 15-story hotel and condo development called Divinity. Folks there opposed the 225-foot high development because it would be so much taller than anything else in downtown Fayetteville. The Barber Group scaled it back to 10 stories and is going back to the planning commission there for approval.