By Carol L. Cole
The Norman Transcript

The dry, stubborn Oklahoma red dirt of northwest Norman resisted the gold shovels that sought to break ground for the 283-room Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center on Wednesday.

But the mayor, councilmembers and hotelier John Q. Hammons gave a strong push to their shovels and the ground finally yielded on the site east of 24th Avenue NW about a half-mile north of Robinson Street in the University North Park development.

“This is a wonderful day for our community,” said Mayor Harold Haralson on the warm and blustery afternoon. “A lot of people have worked hard to bring this to fruition. … We have a lot to be proud of. This is going to be the crown jewel (of the development.)”

The conference center will provide about 43,000 square feet of rentable function space, including a 28,800-square-foot divisible grand ballroom; 7,200-square-foot junior ballroom and 7,200 square feet of meeting rooms and classrooms.

Hammons called the area a great location, calling Interstate 35 “prime.”

“The opportunity to be here with a great university and the power of this area of Oklahoma was very easy to understand and a good decision could be made quickly, so that’s what I did,” Hammons said. “I think you’ll be proud of this and we’ll do our best to serve you.”

The mayor said the conference center came from a lot of vision on the part of the Citizens Tax Increment Financing Advisory Committee. And he said the project is one of Ward 7 councilmember Doug Cubberley’s “pride and joys.”

Cubberley called it a wonderful day for Norman.

“When we were talking about a conference center, we were talking about it three, four, five years from now. And none of us imagined that this would come so soon,” he said. “We all believe that the conference center is the cornerstone for bringing in that type of development that we all envisioned.”

Cubberley said he believes the city will see tremendous things develop in the area very quickly.

Hammons said it is a great opportunity for Norman to have a first-class hotel.

“And that’s what it will be, because that’s what we build,” he said.

John Q. Hammons Hotels is expected to begin construction of the hotel and an adjoining conference center this month. It will be the company’s 87th hotel to build and own since 1958.

“We’ve now built over 4 million square foot of meeting space in our hotels,” Hammons said.

He said you have to be in the business to appreciate the positive effects the hotel/conference center could have on the community.

“It costs a lot of money to do what we do,” Hammons said. “It also wins, and that’s the name of the game.”

The hotel construction is estimated to cost about $30 million, with the conference center expected to cost about $23 million to $24 million to build. When it’s complete, the city will have the option to purchase the conference center for $15 million, which will be paid for with revenue bonds financed from the University North Park Tax Increment Financing District No. 2.

Hotel improvements will be subject to ad valorem taxes, with 50 percent going to the TIF District and 50 percent to the public schools, technology center, county, health department and public library system.

The center will be leased by the city to John Q. Hammons Hotels for operation. The lease will require fees in lieu of ad valorem taxes to be paid.

Stanton Nelson, developer of the University Town Center LLC adjacent to the new conference center, said there is no question that the conference center will have a tremendous effect on the development.

“This is the next step we needed to take to create something that’s going to be very special,” Nelson said. “Having Mr. Hammons here today was great. This is very, very exciting.”

Nelson said he expects to have more announcements soon of restaurants and retailers who will locate in the area.

“We have some restaurant concepts that are going to be unique to Norman and this area,” he said. “It’s been very positive.”

Haralson said a lot of people had their doubts about the conference center, but they also had doubts about Lake Thunderbird, which supplies about 80 percent of the city’s drinking water.

“Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith,” Haralson said. “I hope to be around in 10 or 15 years and see what’s here.”