From Deseret News archives:
Hotel unveils Pleasant Grove plan
Embassy Suites will break ground in June
The much-talked about Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center will be a 14-story, 300-suite, $100 million project and will be located on the southeast corner of the Pleasant Grove interchange, at exit 275 on I-15.
"I won't take any location, it has to be tops," Hammons said of his choice of land. "I wanted that corner."
The land is just a field now, but after June 1, crews will start breaking ground on the massive project. In addition to the Embassy Suites Hotel, Hammons is building a 10-story, 220-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel, to be completed in 2009 on an adjacent location.
Also in the works is a "lifestyle" outdoor mall project that will involve upscale shopping, dining and theaters.
Hammons said he chose the location because of its close proximity to I-15, the Point of the Mountain, Mt. Timpanogos and both Utah Valley State College and Brigham Young University.
Hammons previously pursued a similar hotel project at the mouth of Provo Canyon where the power plant now is, but plans were abandoned, Hammons says, because the ground was contaminated.
Since then, he has waited for a prime opportunity and place to become available.
In the fall of 2006, Pleasant Grove promised to purchase 37 acres of land to give to Hammons in exchange for the construction of the hotel. The city issued a $35 million bond, to be repaid over 25 years, to pay for the land.
The city made an agreement with Utah County to keep the property-tax increase generated by the hotel, as well a portion of the transient room tax to be collected by the county to fund the repayment.
The city also reached similar agreements with the Alpine School District and Central Utah Water Conservancy District to retain property taxes that would normally go to those entities.
At one point, the city wasn't sure they would be able to collect the funds necessary, but a transient room-tax increase, approved by the county, tipped the scales in the city's favor.
Putting the final touches on the project and all of its necessary financial agreements was an obvious relief to Pleasant Grove Mayor Michael Daniels.
"This is a big day," Daniels said. "This is a day to celebrate. It's a day to look forward to the future. It's a day to be grateful for the people that went before and also for the people who have put forth their time, effort and money to make this possible."
Though other cities in the county, including Provo, have talked very seriously about building other convention centers in relatively close proximity, Hammons said he isn't too worried about the competition.
"I don't know what they're going to do, I really don't care," Hammons said. "I only know what we're going to do, and we hope they all win."
E-mail: achoate@desnews.com
