GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) - The most important organization that could have weighed in on the downtown Green Bay Clarion Hotel decision this week never spoke up publicly.
Greater Green Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau President Brad Toll says they did not endorse a proposal, because their board of directors didn’t have time to meet with the two developers.
On Tuesday, the city council decided on a plan to renovate the current 140-room Clarion Hotel for $5.3 million, thus maintaining it as a mid-tier hotel.
The council essentially voted against Edgewater Resources’ plan to build a new 200-room, $33.5 million, four-star hotel on the site.
Toll says the area also could have absorbed the additional 60 rooms, especially because of the expanding KI Convention Center and the loss of the Days Inn.
“If we would have added 60 rooms, I think we could have worked with that,” Toll said.
The city council voted against Edgewater’s proposal, mainly because it could have jeopardized the future and success of the Hotel Northland, an estimated $35 million renovation project that will begin later this year.
The developer of the Northland, Frantz-Hobart, said the project would move forward no matter what the outcome of the Clarion vote was.
Toll believes the area could have supported two high end hotels in downtown Green Bay, with the Hotel Northland and the failed Edgewater proposal.
“It would have been harder to sell all of that, but we didn’t feel strong enough to say that we could absolutely not sell that,” Toll said.
During testimony at the city council meeting on Tuesday, Edwater Resouces' Ed Vandenack stated that Toll said the downtown could support two high end hotels.