Burlington, Ia- A developer who potentially could build a hotel on the Burlington riverfront, first wants to make some changes to Burlington Memorial Auditorium.
Without enough tenants for a previously proposed hotel, a Des Moines based development firm called CBRE Hubbell now wants to take over Memorial Auditorium and increase its seating capacity by about double.
According to the developer, the possibility of a hotel is still planned, but that project has been put on hold until the refurbished auditorium can bring in larger crowds.
CBRE Hubbell representative Ryan Jensen told the Burlington City Council Monday that the auditorium expansion, as well as potential new management, would heavily increase Burlington foot traffic, estimated at around 200 to 500 people downtown, 250 days a year.
That increased traffic, which could be attained in as little as four years, Jensen said, would provide the tenants for the previously proposed hotel on the riverfront.
CBRE Hubbell has an exclusive development agreement with the city that expires next month.
Jensen said that they would need about 2 to 3 months to develop a cost estimate for this new plan, which would require the city to renew their agreement with CBRE Hubbell for another year.
As of now, the city has made no commitments to move forward with this proposed plan.
