The University of Colorado is weighing the pros and cons of two potential locations for a proposed hotel and conference center that could host national events and community gatherings.

CU is leading the charge to build a long-awaited hotel and conference center that city and university planners say Boulder needs if it wants to attract national and international events and groups to the area.

One site is a 3-acre plot of land in the Grandview Terrace area bounded by Broadway and University Avenue. The other is a 7.5-acre plot near the corner of Folsom Street and Arapahoe Avenue.

The university had only been considering the Folsom and Arapahoe location but widened its geographic scope after a request from the city of Boulder.

CU and the city shared the cost of a $54,822 comparative analysis of the two sites led by Denver-based company 4240 Architecture. For now, the project is strictly a university-led effort, though CU and city planners have been discussing how the hotel and conference center could benefit people in Boulder more broadly.

At the outset, the city is most interested in the Grandview location because it could help with efforts to revitalize University Hill and is a short walk to downtown Boulder.

“This would be a lot more of a unique facility to Boulder if it’s located (at Grandview),” said Sam Assefa, senior urban designer for the city. “It’s smack next to the mountains, visually it’s an attractive place, it is one of the highest-served areas by transportation. We thought about it as a unique destination.”

But the Grandview site presents some challenges, too. The City Council heard about the two potential locations at a recent study session, and both sides say they hope to keep talking.

“We’re really in the very preliminary stages,” said Frances Draper, CU’s vice chancellor for strategic relations. “We’re still evaluating the two sites. What might it cost to put something there, in very broad terms, and then we get into, OK, how would we finance this? If we do something jointly with the city, what might that look like? None of that has been defined.”

Center plans

Boulder leaders have been floating the idea of building a hotel and conference center for more than a decade.

The current proposal includes a 130,000- to 150,000-square-foot hotel with 250 rooms, parking, a restaurant and fitness center. The hotel would be next to a 185,000- to 200,000-square-foot conference center with a large ballroom and meeting spaces.

Draper said there are too many variables to provide an accurate cost for the project.

A center that could host groups of 600 to 800 people would allow Boulder to compete with other cities for symposiums, gatherings and events, said Mary Ann Mahoney, executive director of the Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Also, conference guests bring in additional tax revenue for the city and boost sales at local businesses.

“It really could have a greater community benefit,” she said, “… to bring those great minds from around the country into our community and let them experience what we get to enjoy every day. They also happen to go out and eat dinner and stay in hotels and all of those things.”

Many CU faculty members and administrators are part of prestigious national societies and groups, but the university doesn’t have a large, cohesive space to host them, and finding lodging in the city can be challenging, Draper said.

That limits CU’s ability to showcase its campus to national and international guests.

“As a city and as a university, we don’t go out and try to get those groups’ annual meetings because we don’t have any place to put them,” she said. “It really is about uncorking that potential.”

Potential sites

The university initially landed on the Folsom and Arapahoe location because it was planning to redevelop graduate student housing located there and is in the process of expanding athletic facilities at Folsom Field.

That site is larger, has quick access to current and planned hotels for accommodating an overflow of conference guests and is expected to make constructing a center cheaper than at Grandview.

Draper said while the Grandview location would provide guests quick access to campus and University Hill, that area is also prime space for future academic expansion.

Because the Grandview plot is smaller, it may require “a more vertical development,” according to the analysis, and the construction of two separate buildings connected by a pedestrian bridge.

The Grandview location has “established character,” said Boulder’s Assefa, which is lacking near the proposed Folsom location.

“It’s near a strip mall,” Assefa said of the Folsom site. “You could be in Anywhere, USA.”

The existing character near Grandview, coupled with the neighborhood’s walkability, access to public transit and views of the Flatirons mean that people may be willing to pay a higher premium to stay and host events there, Assefa said.

“We were able to see the bigger value of Grandview,” he said.

At a recent Boulder City Council study session, council members expressed gratitude to the university for studying the Grandview site, which city officials believe has the potential to greatly contribute to the revitalization of the Hill.

The city’s vision for the commercial district depends on getting more professionals and academics mixing with the student population and providing customers for higher-end shops and restaurants. City officials imagine conference participants walking from a Grandview location to 13th Street.

But council members also said the aesthetics of a conference center at such a key location are important.

“This could be a real asset for the Hill,” Councilman Tim Plass said. “My concern is that it be contextual. I would hate to tear down too much historic stuff to make way for the new. It could be a really nice amenity for the Hill.”

The Grandview site now includes several surface parking lots, a Starbucks coffee shop and CU’s Center for Asian Studies. The Folsom site includes a graduate student and family housing complex known as Newton Court.

CU officials said it’s too early to determine the future of existing structures at both locations.

Moving ahead

Both the university and the city said that for now, they’re committed to studying the site analysis further before talking about a decision.

Ultimately, though, the project is the university’s.

“At the end of the day, the university will make a decision,” Assefa said. “But what we’ve sensed over the last few months is that they’re genuinely working with us to look at the benefits of one site versus another.”

Draper said because a conference center would be used by groups outside the university, it’s in CU’s best interest to seriously consider the ideas and concerns from all stakeholders, including the city.

She said the university “looks forward” to the center getting a lot of community use.

“It’s only going to be successful as a conference center if the community feels like they can bring their events to it,” she said.

“It’s a very open, collegial conversation, and I think ultimately the university recognizes that the community and outside groups would want to rent it and help make it a viable project.”

Sarah Kuta: 303-473-1106, kutas@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/sarahkuta