Cape Council to vote on special-use permit for conference center project

The Cape Girardeau City Council will vote today on a special-use permit that would clear the way for construction of a new Drury Southwest Conference Center and hotel at 3351 Percy Drive.

The project needs a special-use permit because the facility would exceed the five-story limit for buildings in a C-2 commercial district.

The proposed hotel portion of the building would stand eight stories tall. City planner Ryan Shrimplin wrote in a report the proposed hotel would be 97.2 feet tall, just under the maximum 100 feet allowed in the commercial zone.

The conference center and hotel would be built at the location of a two-story Drury Lodge that will be demolished early next year. Built as a Ramada Inn in 1969, it became the Drury Lodge in 1985. The new hotel will have 168 guest rooms, 29 more than the existing hotel, Shrimplin said.

The city staff report also noted the site is served by public utilities that have the capacity to serve the proposed hotel and the conference center and "will not be overtaxed."

The new hotel and conference center would open in late spring or early summer 2017. Once complete, the hotel, an adjoining restaurant and the conference center would cover more than 20,000 square feet.

It's estimated 27,000 room nights are turned away annually because of the lack of a large conference center, Drury Southwest and city officials have said.

The conference center would be funded mostly with private money. Participating hotel owners in the William Street and Interstate 55 area have volunteered to pay 1 percent of their hotel revenue for up to 20 years or until their combined contribution with the city meets $6.25 million -- whichever comes first. The city estimates the hotel owners' contributions at $3.8 million. The city is slated to provide $2.45 million for the project. In addition, Drury Southwest will contribute a private investment of at least $4.75 million.

Mayor Harry Rediger and City Manager Scott Meyer said the public-private partnership is good for the city and the community.

"It's huge. They have really stepped up to the plate," the mayor said of the hotel operators involved in the project.

Rediger said the city could not afford to build a convention center on its own. He said the city stood to lose "several hundred thousand dollars annually" for several years if it had undertaken such a project.

Meyer said the private developers have been "upfront" about the project from the beginning.

"They're just a great partner," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

401 Independence St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.

3351 Percy Drive, Cape Girardeau, Mo.