Downtown Hotel, Conference Center Plans Still in Flux

Plans for the Kent State University Hotel and Conference Center remain under discussion between the university and its development partner, Columbus-based Pizzuti Companies.

 President Lester Lefton said the partners have officially settled on a site for the facility. The combined hotel and conference center will stand on the triangle of land located between Erie, South DePeyster streets and Haymaker Parkway on the corner opposite from .

Early plans called for a separate, 25,000-square-foot conference center on the current site with a six-story, 110-room hotel across from it on South DePeyster Street.

But the partners have since scaled back the size of both the hotel and conference center. The hotel will have closer to 90 rooms, and the conference and banquet facility will be less than 14,000 square feet, but is still expected to have seating for 300. Both facilities will be combined in one building either three or four stories tall.

"It was too big for our needs," Lefton said of the original plans. "And you don't want to overbuild, because it's expensive."

Gregg Floyd, vice president for finance and administration at Kent State, said the current focus of the partners is value-engineering the design of the facilities to make the project affordable.

Floyd said construction and opening dates also have not been set. But the hotel will not open until after PARTA opens the Kent Central Gateway transit center in late 2012, so the hotel may not be completed until the first quarter of 2013.

"The original plan was that ... they were going to break ground on the hotel this spring," he said.

The partners have not identified a brand for the hotel. And a name for the facility also has not been chosen. Lefton said the hotel and conference center will include "Kent State" as part of the name.

"I like 'The Inn at Kent State,'" Lefton said. "But that has not been determined. It will have the name Kent State in it someplace.

"That's to the advantage of the hotel," Lefton said. "When people go looking for a hotel they're going to type in 'hotel, Kent State.' You want the name in the title."

The university also has not determined exactly how much it will spend as an equity investor in the project. The Kent State University Board of Trustees has authorized an investment of up to $3 million on the project. Lefton said either the university or the Kent State University Foundation will pay for the investment. The university paid $530,000 alone aquiring the land for the hotel through personal philanthropic donations made by Ron Pizzuti, a Kent State alum and owner of The Pizzuti Companies.

For now, one building remains on the site and must be demolished before construction can begin.

Floyd said the hotel has shifted to the forefront somewhat in downtown redevelopment talks as the city, PARTA and Fairmount Properties all make progress on their individual development projects.

"I continue to emphasize the importance of partnership," he said. "This has been one of the more positive examples of large institutions forming a very effective partnership."