Hotel, conference center idea revived

Interest from a Missouri company has revived a dormant project to bring a hotel and conference center to the University of North Texas campus.

The university received an unsolicited proposal from the O'Reilly Hospitality Management Group and has agreed to begin negotiating a developer's agreement, UNT spokesman Buddy Price confirmed Friday.

The proposal called for a 250-room, full-service hotel - either a Hilton Embassy Suites or a Marriott - on university property near where the Radisson Hotel was located, Price said.

The project would also include a 120,000-square-foot conference and exhibition center on behalf of the city. The company is planning a second 100-room hotel on the property, officials said.

"UNT would not finance construction, but would lease the land for the development," Price said. "I can assure you no state money would be used."

Price said no timetable had been set for the negotiations.

"Typically, these negotiations can take several months, but it could also take two weeks," he said. "There is no timetable at this point."

The City Council met in a closed session Tuesday to discuss leasing and financing "a city facility" on UNT property at Interstate 35E and North Texas Boulevard, according to the meeting agenda.

City officials confirmed that the talks were under way but said no agreements have been signed yet.

UNT sponsors conferences that are too large to be held at a single facility in Denton, Price said. A facility of the size being discussed would provide adequate space to possibly move some of those conferences there, he said.

Also, people who attend UNT athletic events would have a facility within walking distance to both Apogee Stadium and the UNT Coliseum, Price said.

The city and UNT announced in March 2009 they had begun talks with Springfield, Mo.-based John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts to build a full-service hotel and conference center on the former Radisson site off Interstate 35E. The university owns the land.

At the time, Hammons planned to run the hotel and conference center, and the city was expected to offer hotel-motel occupancy taxes to supplement private funding for the conference center. City officials also considered selling bonds for the project but did not reveal how much money would be involved or who would pay back the debt.

Scott Tarwater, then an executive at Hammons, said in an August 2009 interview that the recession had stalled the project.

Tarwater is now pursuing the project as an executive with O'Reilly. He did not return a call seeking comment.

Tim O'Reilly, the company's chief executive officer, could not be reached.

The company, formed in 2007, manages hotels and restaurants in Missouri, Oklahoma and Montana.

LOWELL BROWN can be reached at 940-566-6882. His e-mail address is lmbrown@dentonrc.com.

MATTHEW ZABEL can be reached at 940-6884. His e-mail address is mzabel@dentonrc.com.