Photo courtesy of Robin Schultz/Bluff Park Drone
Hoover Met Complex Jan 2019
The grassy area shown just to the left of the Finley Center in this photo is a potential location of a hotel at the Hoover Metropolitan Complex, City Administrator Allan Rice said.
The Hoover City Council on Monday night authorized the mayor to hire a real estate services firm to determine if it would be a good idea to allow a hotel to be built on city property at the Hoover Metropolitan Complex.
The council agreed to pay CBRE Hotels $25,000, plus up to $4,000 in expenses, to conduct the feasibility study.
The company will examine the suitability of the site for a hotel, the overall market demand for hotel rooms in the area, the estimated market share such a hotel would capture and financial projections for the first five years of a hotel there, according to a proposal submitted by the company. It also will examine the economic impact of a hotel there and what kind of impact it would have on other lodging facilities in the area.
If a hotel is deemed feasible, the firm also would recommend a number of potential guest rooms and suites, potential room rates, the number and size of food and beverage outlets that might be needed, banquet and meeting space requirements, recreational facilities and potential hotel brands that might work well there.
Hoover City Administrator Allan Rice said Sports Facilities Management, the company that manages the sports and event complex, has some major conventions and trade shows it would like to pursue, and having on-site lodging and dining would add another dimension to the complex’s ability to attract those events.
“The question is would a hotel work on site directly adjacent to the complex on city property,” Rice said. “We don’t know the answer to that. … We need that in-depth analysis that we don’t have the ability to perform as city staff to tell us — would that be an enhancement?”
Potential locations for a hotel would be on the grassy area between the Finley Center and Hoover Metropolitan Stadium or in part of the parking lot near the two facilities, Rice said.
Rice emphasized the city does not want to go into the hotel construction and management business but, if a hotel is deemed feasible, likely would have some type of ground lease whereby the city could reap financial rewards by allowing someone else to build a hotel on city property.