Last night the Harrisonburg City Council discussed a proposed conference center and hotel to potentially be built in downtown Harrisonburg.  The proposal went before City Council because the developers are seeking public funding for part of the project.

City Council made a decision to seek competing proposals, which are due to the City by Nov 13, 2012.  After competing proposals have been received, the City can decide whether to move forward with a feasibility study to provide more data with which to make a decision about whether to provide the public funding for this project.  The hard costs of the potential feasibility study will be paid by the City with funds paid by each developer that submits a proposal.

The project team that is working on this proposed conference center and hotel include:

• Developer:  dpM Partners, LLC
• General Contractor:  W.M. Jordan Company
• Lead Architect:  BHC Architects, LLP
• Local Architect:  Mather Architects, P.C.
• Engineer:  Blackwell Engineering, PLC

dpM Partners is based out of Gaithersburg, MD, has recently developed a Westin Hotel in Virginia Beach.  Its principal, was the lead developer on the Stonewall Jackson conference center in Staunton and he is also a JMU graduate.  The W.M. Jordan Company (proposed general contractor) recently completed the Hilton at Short Pump.

The proposed conference center facility would be 18,180 square feet --- twice the size of the JMU Festival Conference Center --- and would be the largest conference center between Northern Virginia and Roanoke.  The hotel would feature 205 rooms and would have a full-service restaurant.

If eventually approved, the City would be contributing nearly $10 million of public funds to this project in the way Tax Increment Financing Bonds. 

The specific site has not been publicly identified, for competitive reasons, but it is in downtown Harrisonburg within walking distance of Main Street. 

I believe this is exciting news for Harrisonburg as it could potentially grow our local economy even further by bringing regional conferences into our area.  It would also certainly be a boon for downtown retail businesses and restaurants.

Stay tuned -- within the next 60 days the City will be seeking competing proposals, and then they will be deciding whether to move forward with a feasibility study.