Hotels Planned At SHSU Location

By Jay Ermis
Managing Editor
The Huntsville Item

Constuction of a project expected to benefit Huntsville and Sam Houston State University could start in early 2008.

The Texas State University System regents have agreed to sell the property housing the SHSU Agriculture Center off Interstate 45 to K Partners Hospitality Group of San Antonio.

K Partners will pay $2.7 millilon for 13.28 acres and plans to build two hotels and a conference center.

Frank Krystyniak, director of SHSU’s Office of Public Relations, said the regents have approved the property sale, but the deal will not be finalized until December.

The majority of the agriculture center’s operations has been moved from the I-45 location to the Gibbs Ranch off state Highway 75 North.

Julia May, assistant director of the Office of Public Relations, said proceeds from the sale of the 13.28 acres are scheduled to be used to develop facilities at the Gibbs Ranch.

They include adding classrooms, meat processing facility and indoor arena, “but nothing is firm on that just yet.”

Ian Fisher, executive vice president of development for K Partners, said the hospitality group plans to build a 103-unit SpringHill Inn and Suites and 95-unit Fairfield Inn and Suites and a conference center to accommodate 400 to 500 people.

The project is designed to face Avenue M and will be located across from the 18-hole Raven Nest Golf Club.

The golf course will be accessible via a tunnel that runs under I-45 and connects the golf club with the agriculture center property.

The tunnel or passageway was used when a dairy farm was in operation where Raven Nest is located.

Fisher said the passageway is an asset, providing easy access to the golf club which he regards as a vital link in the group’s constructing the hotels and conference center.

Fisher said restaurants are scheduled to be constructed at the location.

Fisher said K Partners constructs hotels in secondary and tertiary markets.

“We like both markets and we examine the profiles of those markets,” he said. “If we feel that they are in an area where they have not been kept up to date with good hotels, we go in there and build what we think are the nicest properties in town.

“It has been our experience that people really sustain those kind of properties because generally speaking secondary and tertiary markets can be somewhat underserved.”

Fisher said group learned about the property through the City of Huntsville.

“We have the land and the contract and we are cautiously optimistic that all the numbers will work out,” Fisher said. “This is particularly a much bigger site than we would normally buy, but it seemed to make sense to put the two hotels and the conference center together.

“The conference center is something which generally we don’t do. We have included the conference center in this particular project because there seems to be a tremendous desire by the university and by the city, and from what we understand, the residents of Huntsville to have a place that they can meet and hold banquets and meetings.”

Fisher said the hospitality group listened to what residents want and included the conference center in the project.

“Although we have done a few conference centers before, they are not part of our regular service hotels,” he said. “Usually, they have a meeting space in the hotel. This will have a free-standing conference center which will be beautiful.

“I say we are cautiously optimistic because we still have to be sure we can make the numbers work on the conference center. We think we can.”

Fisher said the San Antonio group has been “looking at Huntsville for the past 90 to 120 days. We like the city very much. We think that the hotels are very much needed.

“Everybody is talking about the same goals. The university and city want a conference center. You put all of that together and you have a common goal. It’s just a question of making the numbers work.”

Fisher said the hospitality group builds, owns and operates the properties.

“What we are really doing is bringing a tremendous economic value to the city,” he said. “You are definitely going to attract people to stay longer in Huntsville, spend more money Huntsville and to have more fun in Huntsville.”

Fisher said they hope to break ground as soon as “we close on the property. If we close on the property that is because all of the numbers work. The numbers have to work.

“The additional cost of the conference center is substantial. We are going to build a very nice conference center.”

—END—

SHSU Media Contact: Frank Krystyniak
Aug. 23, 2007
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