The first floor plan for Arkansas State University's Red Wolf Regional Convention Center.
A hotel and convention center project by Arkansas State University and O’Reilly Embassy Suites is moving forward even though a similar project has received significant financial support from the Jonesboro Advertising & Promotions Commission.
Springfield-based O’Reilly Hospitality Management LLC announced Tuesday its definite intent to move forward immediately with the final development and construction of a 202-room Embassy Suites Hotel, a 40,000-SF convention center and a Houlihan’s restaurant.
On March 2, the Jonesboro A&P voted 3-2 to financially support the Keller Family Hyatt group in its bid to build a convention center and hotel in the city.
The commission agreed to give the group $300,000 over the next three years, and the group will also receive a hotel tax abatement of up to $200,000 per year during the same time frame.
In spite of that, the Delta Regional Authority has approved a $404,983 investment into Arkansas State University for site preparation and improvements at the 11-acre location where the Red Wolf Regional Convention Center and adjacent Embassy Suites will be built, ASU announced in a press release Tuesday.
Chris Masingill, federal co-chairman of the Delta Regional Authority, notified A-State Chancellor Tim Hudson of his approval of the revised scope of the project on Tuesday. The project is expected to bring significant economic benefits to the 11 counties in the region served by the authority.
The hotel and convention center project on leased university land, which was approved on Feb. 26 by the ASU Board of Trustees, will be on Red Wolf Boulevard on campus between the football and baseball stadiums and Convocation Center.
“It is unfortunate both that there appears to be a political competition of sorts regarding our project and another convention center project that has been attempted for many years, and that there is definitely not a market or opportunity to succeed for two convention centers in Jonesboro,” said Tim O’Reilly, CEO of O’Reilly Hospitality. “However, we have great faith in our partnership with A-State which when combined with the outpouring of support from many facets of the Jonesboro business and medical communities, the powerful Hilton/Embassy booking and global marketing and sales engine, and our team’s experience and past success with this type of project, and we will press forward without hesitation and we will persevere and succeed in this market.”
ASU plans to use the hotel and convention center as a practicum site in the training of students enrolled in the hospitality management program offered by the department of marketing and management in the College of Business.
When completed, the project is expected to have an annual economic impact of $44 million, driven largely by 300 new jobs at the convention center and hotel, plus another 100 jobs in related businesses and industries, according to an analysis developed by the A-State College of Business and the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.
Architectural plans for the project are being finalized by O’Reilly Hospitality Management and Butler Rosenbury Architects of Springfield, Missouri, with construction set to begin within 120 days, lasting 15 or 16 months.
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