A third proposal for a convention center in Jefferson City may be on the table.
Atrium Hospitality has proposed a possible convention center to be built next to its current Jefferson City property, the Capitol Plaza Hotel and Convention Center on West McCarty Street. The company purchased the downtown hotel in 2005 and started managing it in 2015.
It's not the first time the site has been pitched as a potential home for a convention center.
In 2013, two developers - Farmer Holding Company and Ehrhardt Hospitality Group - presented proposed plans for a conference center to the city.
Ehrhardt proposed a 22,500-square-foot center on the West McCarty site; Farmer Holding Company proposed a 20,000-square-foot center near Capital Mall.
But in April 2014, the Jefferson City Council rejected both proposals, and the idea of a convention center was shelved again.
At the end of 2019, Atrium Hospitality proposed the city reconsider the West McCarty Street site.
Atrium's new proposal is for a 30,000-square-foot convention center that would include up to 20,000 square feet of ballroom and exhibit space, breakout meeting rooms, and pre-function and back-of-house spaces, according to a preliminary development study. Final designs and layout of the building have not been completed.
Ralph Bray, a former Jefferson City councilman who has been speaking with Atrium about the proposal, shared the draft development study, dated from November 2019, with the News Tribune.
"When I received the draft of their proposal the first time, I was quite surprised because it was quite good - quite favorable to the city," Bray said. "It serves the purpose to attract larger conventions than what we already get."
The company is proposing the convention center be built next to Capitol Plaza in a state-owned lot that currently serves as parking, typically for state employees working across the street in the Harry S. Truman State Office Building.
Estimated construction costs would be $450 per square foot for a total of $13.5 million, not including surface parking lots, according to the study.
A development timeline included in the study gives four to six months for planning, six to eight months for design, four to six months for pre-construction and one year for construction, for a total of about two years and two months, when adding the minimum estimated number of months.
As part of the deal, Atrium is proposing Jefferson City would contribute $13.5 million from the Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau's tourism fund.
Jefferson City voters approved an increase in the lodging tax from 3 percent to 7 percent in 2011, with the idea the extra 4 percent would go into a tourism fund. As of November 2019, the fund contains about $10.05 million.
In its proposal, Atrium is asking for a 10-year occupancy tax freeze on Capitol Plaza to allow capital reinvestment into the hotel. Atrium would contribute the design and construction of the convention center, as well as assume up to $1.5 million in cost overruns and all operational risks.
Bray said the Atrium proposal is "exactly what the city was asking for."
Representatives from Atrium did not return the News Tribune's requests for comment.
Ward 1 Councilman David Kemna confirmed he had seen the Atrium proposal and that some council members and some city staff are aware of the proposal, but they had not made any decision or plans to move forward.
"We know they're interested; we know they have the proposal out there," Kemna said. "So far, we have not made any movement on it."
The City Council and the Missouri State Penitentiary Community Partners are currently in discussions regarding two proposals for redevelopment of the historic MSP site, both of which include a convention center to be funded by the tourism fund.
Farmer Companies proposed two possibilities - either a 25,000-square-foot or a 50,000-square-foot convention center built next to the Courtyard By Marriott the company is currently building on the site of the former St. Mary's Hospital at the intersection of Missouri Boulevard and U.S. 50.
Both options also include development of an outdoor space on the approximately 32 acres at MSP, which was conveyed to the city by the state in 2018 for redevelopment. Along with the smaller convention center, the MSP site would become the Veterans Memorial Athletic Complex, including five to 10 artificial turf soccer fields. With the larger building, the outdoor space would be developed as a park space with walking trails.
The second MSP proposal comes from a St. Louis-based group of developers including Chesterfield Hotels and architectural firm Arcturis.
Their proposal would have a conference center and hotel on the MSP site. Included in the conceptual plan for future development are other amenities like a parking garage, museum, three-mixed use buildings, a group of townhomes and an office building.
The plan also includes some public spaces like small parks and a sculpture plaza, as well as greenway trails and a quad area in the center of the old prison buildings with an outdoor performance pavilion.
The council approved a developer performance agreement for the project in August 2019, and developers had until Dec. 1, 2019, to submit a proposal.
Kemna said Atrium was invited to submit a proposal during that time, along with many other developers. However, there is no reason a developer can't submit any building proposal to the council at any time.
"I think if they're also interested, we owe it to the city in some degree to listen to them," Kemna said, "to see what they have and what they offer."
Mayor Carrie Tergin said she could not comment specifically on the proposal.
"Any proposals that come forward, council can look at; but as everyone knows, the city continues to work with two proposals for the MSP site, and that should be our focus right now," Tergin said.
The News Tribune attempted to contact the other nine City Council members about the proposal.
Ward 2 Councilman Rick Mihalevich said in an emailed statement he is "committed to seeing the MSPCP process to the end."
Declining to comment were Ward 3 Councilman Ken Hussey, Ward 4 Councilmen Carlos Graham and Ron Fitzwater, and Ward 5 Councilmen Jon Hensley and Mark Schreiber.
Ward 3 Councilwoman Erin Wiseman said she had not seen the proposal.
Multiple efforts to reach Ward 1 Councilman Rick Prather and Ward 2 Councilwoman Laura Ward were unsuccessful.