Jonesboro is getting its convention center after years of trying, and it may get two if Arkansas State University is able to move forward on a planned project.
This week, the city announced plans for a $25 million hotel/center project set for site work in 30 to 45 days in southeast Jonesboro. A completion date was set for September 2016.
A 150-room Hyatt Place hotel and adjacent 30,000-SF convention center is planned for the old Arkansas Services Center location on McClellan Drive near the Joe Martin Expressway. Keller Enterprises of Effingham, Illinois, is the developer for the project, which is being financed through First Community Bank.
Chuck Keller told Jonesboro’s KAIT that his company is excited to be in Jonesboro.
“It’s one of the only communities we know of in the United States that you have the university and the industry growing at the same time,” he told the station. “Most of the time you either have the university growing or the industry growing. Jonesboro is on the move.”
However, Keller has stated publicly that he believes Jonesboro can support just one hotel/convention center project.
Meanwhile, ASU is attempting to move ahead with its plans for an on-campus hotel/convention center project. University spokesman Jeff Hankins said its scale might be toned down now that Keller is moving ahead with the city elsewhere.
In February, the university announced that it was negotiating with O’Reilly Hospitality Management LLC of Springfield, Missouri, for a land lease agreement to develop an Embassy Suites hotel, a conference center and Houlihan’s restaurant on an 11-acre tract located between the school’s football and baseball stadiums.
The project was estimated at $35-45 million.
ASU officials envision the complex having joint educational opportunities and housing internships in areas such as hospitality management, which the school plans to add, and marketing. The hotel would be 200 rooms and the convention center 40-50,000-SF.
Hankins said ASU continues to pursue the deal with O’Reilly that will entail “appropriate meeting and conference space.”
“It will also serve students in our planned hospitality management program,” he said in a statement. “Like many campuses, we have a tremendous need for this type of asset. When the city failed to close a deal on a conference center previously, we worked with city leadership to expand our own project to accommodate community needs. Now, this may not be necessary as we move forward.”