TRAVERSE CITY -- Two entrepreneurs, two neighboring businesses. And two starkly different opinions on the proposed hotel across the street from them.
Mike Curths and Shayne Daley both want the city's hip, edgy Warehouse District to flourish, but they disagree on whether a hotel would help or hinder that cause.
"My understanding is down in this area, the city has been talking about doing more retail, kind of making this part of downtown, more art galleries, more cafes, lower building heights," said Curths, owner of InsideOut Gallery. "I don't see a corporate hotel, 45-feet tall right on Grandview Parkway as anything that would, other than the tax base, really, do anything supposedly for the Warehouse District."
Nothing has been finalized, but there's hope for an agreement with the Hyatt Corporation, said Bill Krause, a real estate broker and consultant working on project negotiations.
Grand Rapids-based developer Wabash Traverse City Development, LLC, plans to begin construction in spring on a four-story, 130-room hotel with underground parking at the site of Bay West Antiques and Gilbert's Service Oil Co. on Grandview Parkway.
Daley, owner of Cuppa Joe Warehouse Lounge, expects the hotel to attract "young, affluent urbanites that want to be downtown, that want to be within walking distance from shopping, restaurants, nightlife, the beach."
"It's a positive," he said. "I take a look at what is there now, as far as the buildings and what they contribute to the area, and I'd much rather have a Hyatt over Gilbert's or the antique store."
The city planning commission in August gave initial site plan approval as long as developers work something out regarding driveways, since they're not allowed under current zoning.
Developers will go before the city's board of zoning appeals on Oct. 14 for permission to construct two driveways off Garland Street.
Zoning rules don't regulate the hotel's design, but city officials recommended the developers incorporate architectural aspects to better mesh with the Warehouse District's atmosphere.
"It should reflect the personality of Traverse City, not some repetitive franchise building you see across America," said city Planner Russ Soyring.
Krause said developers plan to avoid the typical boxy, contemporary look of most hotels and opt for something that fits in with the small town storefronts of Traverse City.
"We want it to be part of the community," Krause said. "We're trying to work with the city and trying to compliment the style of the city."
Print this story
E-mail this story
