INDIANAPOLIS—Plans for two new hotels at Pan Am Plaza in downtown Indianapolis are being scaled back, at least for now.
In a letter to the owners of the city's major downtown hotels, Mayor Joe Hogsett says only one hotel will be built at first, rather than two at the same time.
After the city came out with plans late last year for two adjacent hotels with more than 1,400 rooms, downtown hotel owners raised a red flag, saying two new hotels was one too many.
Now, the mayor says Kite Realty will build a 38-story 800-room hotel, along with an 80,000 square foot expansion of the neighboring Indiana Convention Center. Work on a second hotel with 600-rooms will be put on hold until there appears to be enough demand for it.
"Your feedback has not fallen on deaf years, nor has the advise and counsel of others who have stepped forward to provide guidance." the mayor wrote in this letter. "In summary, these conversations have informed a basic conclusion: it is imperative that the city protect out current convention-sports-entertainment ecosystem while moving forward with investments that will preserve the 80,000 job economic sector supported by this industry."
The mayor went on to say the new plan "represents real change from the original proposal, without affecting the benefits of the overall project." The mayor says he is "thankful for the willingness of major stakeholders to come together to seek the kind of compromise and unity that has characterized fifty years of public-private partnership in Indianapolis."
When built, the new Hilton would be the second largest in the city. Completion could come by 2022.
