Height won’t be problem for new hotel
3/17/2010
By CHRIS HUNTER Salina Journal
A new hotel could be filling a vacant lot in south Salina in the next few months after members of the Salina Planning Commission approved a change to height requirements on property near Riffel Drive and South Ninth Street.
Ken Bieberly, of Bieberly Architects, asked planning commissioners to allow Deepa Hospitality Group to build a 46-foot-high, 22,000-square-foot Holiday Inn hotel southwest of Lowe’s.
Dean Andrew, the city’s planning and zoning director, said the Holiday Inn representatives approached him in late January.
“That district was set up for restaurants and stores, not multi-story motels,” Andrew said. “It just caught us off guard because you can do motels but no one has ever asked.”
The hotel would be four floors with 115 rooms and sit on 3.25 acres. The first floor would contain a restaurant, but no rooms.
Bieberly said he expects it to take two or three months for design. Construction would start soon afterward.
Andrew said the height of the motel is only an issue because of its location.
Currently, the area is zoned C-3, which is typically for shopping centers. In that zone, buildings are restricted to a 40-foot maximum height. Most hotels in the city are in the C-5, or “service commercial,” zone, which allows a 50-foot maximum height.
Andrew said the other hotels are between 45 and 48 feet in height, with the nearby Hampton Inn being 46 feet tall.
“It fits perfectly down there,” Commissioner Aaron Householter said. “I don’t see any problems with it. It matches the other hotels height-wise.”
Commissioners gave preliminary approval to the height change. Andrew said commissioners will consider the site plan later.
Bieberly said he did not know if landowners have other prospects that might locate at the development, but a design shows spots for more retail stores and restaurants on the site.
“I just want to get the hotel finished first,” Bieberly said.
nReporter Chris Hunter can be reached at 822-1422 or by e-mail at [email protected].
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0316 says….
To “Just Wondering” I’m glad that your making 47,000 a year, but because Salina does not have much of a white collar corporate job market, I had to move to KC to put my degree to work. This can be said for a lot of young adults who have left Salina. So now we have another hotel paying only minimum wage except for the 3 or 4 management positions that they will offer… yay for salina.
3/30/2010
Knows better says….
To: How It Is
Do you have proof new jobs have been driven away by local manufacturers? You don’t because it doesn’t happen. Local employers donated money to economic development to bring more jobs to Salina. Why don’t you volunteer for the chamber and find out for yourself?
3/30/2010
says….
Does Salina need another motel? Who cares?! It’s their money, let them build it & find out if there’s a market for it!
3/29/2010
How it is says….
Just so a few of you know. Other major mfgs., have tried to come into the area. Largely due to it’s central location on the map. A couple of our current companies rallied against these would be mfgs and the would be’s got told to go away. So now companies don’t seem too give us much thought when looking for places to expand. They already know of failed attempts by others at building new plants here. Yet the same companies that are responsible for getting the others turned away aren’t providing enough jobs themselves, so many good folks need those worthless minimum wage jobs the restaurants, hotels, motels and multi service stores bring. You want good paying, move to KC, Detroit, etc etc etc. Other wise be glad you have a chance at anything.
3/29/2010
says….
WHY on earth are we not the center of tourism in america since we are sitting in the crossroads of america . WOW !! salina should have a ridiculuos number of attractions and HUGE airport and storage lockers and warehouses that sit RIGHT In the middle america . Hotels we got downpat AND ready for the big growth boom .
3/29/2010
B:) says….
Why do we need another hotel? We dont have enough tourism for that. How about bringing in more business so jobs can be filled. What a stupid idea!!!!
3/29/2010
says….
Holiday Inn Express is now La Quinta
What happened there?
3/28/2010
Just sayin’ says….
Thomas, all I’m saying is that perhaps the powers that be should try a bit harder to get higher paying jobs in town. Are they trying as hard as they can to get a major manufacturing facility to move to Salina? Or is it just easier for them to try to attract the lower end jobs? With all the low end jobs that we have seen coming to Salina, it appears that maybe that is what they are shooting for. And for what it’s worth, I too would love to see a Starbucks in Salina.
3/27/2010
Thomas says….
Just Sayin – most of the jobs here in Salina are minimum wage or just slightly above. Any money is better than no money, and do you think the people who stay at the hotels all make minimum wage ? No. Any money leaving our city to go to another city to purchase a 6.00 cup of coffee is still money lost. Don’t over think yourself.
3/26/2010
no holiday inn says….
I think you all should go to the city meeting and comment on this and support the ones that are already telling them to stop building hotels or we are going to become like other cities where you just see hotels and nothing else and then they cant afford to keep it running so it will look like a dump
3/26/2010
says….
Oh, I forgot to mention. Salina used to have a Hilton Hotel. It’s now the Phoenix.
3/23/2010
says….
Yes, Salina used to have a Holiday Inn. They turned it into a Ramada Inn. And yes, Salina used to have a Ramada Inn, but they turned that into an EconoLodge or some such thing
3/22/2010
says….
Fill up the hotels you already have Salina! After you do that they build more, you can’t fill what you already have! I drive by several on my way to work and the parking lots are never full.
3/22/2010
says….
Didn’t Salina have a Holiday Inn! What happend to that one?
3/22/2010
says….
Are all the hotels that Salina has now always full? Is there a reason they need another hotel. I can drive by the hotels and never see the parking lots full and this can be in the morning, afternoon, evenings, and weekends. LEts fill up the ones we have now before building more. It’s called supply and demand, there is not demand! Salina needs a lot more things then another hotel. THINK SALINA, THINK!
3/22/2010
Just curious says….
A bookstore sounds like a great idea, Moon. Why don’t you open one? And I’m not trying to be snarky, but just wondering. I always hear people saying that someone should open a this or that, but often wonder why they don’t just do it. If it’s a good idea, and it takes off, could be a real money maker.
3/20/2010
Just sayin’ says….
JR–While I fully agree that another hotel is definitely growth, it makes me wonder if the powers that be are not trying to grow Salina in the wrong direction. Salina has not seen any major development in the manufacturing sector for the past several years. Yes, you’ve had expansions in current industrial facilities, but no new manufacturing firms have moved into Salina. In very recent years, starting with the Hampton, there have been several new hotels built in south Salina. How much growth did they cause to happen? You need to have good jobs to get people to want to come to Salina to stay, not come to Salina to spend the night on their way to somewhere else.
3/20/2010
Moon says….
How about someone builds a BOOKSTORE?! or better yet, how about someone renovates an existing but empty store into a bookstore?
3/20/2010
Just Wondering says….
This comment is for “A7Z2L”. I actually don’t need a minumum wage job because I already have a job that pays me $47,000 a year. I am just stating that this hotel will help generate jobs for alot of people and bring revenue to Salina. I agree with you that Salina needs better paying jobs but you take what you can get in these hard times. I am sure alot of people will be happy to make money regardless if its minimum wage. Some money is better than no money and I am sure alot of people will agree with that. I am sure you will have a comment to this and I would love to hear it lol.
3/19/2010
JR says….
It seems that a lot of people agree with Obama when he said that, “Baby steps don’t get you to the place you want to go”. However, for people that understand business, baby steps are the key to foundational success! A positive person looks at a new hotel as growth progress. The next step will be a Starbucks or another major Department Store. For negative people….nothing will ever please them. We all just need to recognize them for what they are! Thank you Salina, for bringing in new life and progress.
3/19/2010
Just sayin’ says….
Nikki–As much as I would like to see a Starbucks and an Olive Garden, to say that they will create a ton of jobs is really a stretch. And what jobs they do create will be minimum wage or slightly above. Salina needs to replace the good paying jobs that it has been losing. If you have a city full of minimum wage jobs, you will have no one who will be able to afford a $6.00 cup of coffee.
3/19/2010
Nikki M. says….
Another hotel – fine. But what Salina need is a Starbucks and an Olive Garden, I work at a hotel and I can’t count the number of people who ask for both of these places, we have to send them out of our town for it. And we’re getting another home improvement store ? (Menard’s) Come on, we have 4 already. Some one please get a Starbucks and an Olive Garden going, that will generate a ton of jobs and money for Salina !
3/19/2010
We Want Our Jobs Back says….
If you want good paying jobs, go tell Obuma. He’s the guy who gave billions to Goldman Sachs, which owns Beechcraft, which fired all their Salina workers so they could move their factories to old Mexico! As Harry Truman said, “The Buck Stops Here” at the desk of Obuma!
3/18/2010
Just sayin’ says….
For what it’s worth, I agree with A7Z2L. Is the Hampton, the Courtyard, the Ramada, the Super 8, the Baymont, the Country Inn, and the many others filled to capacity and turning people away every night? If a new hotel is to be built, it should be built in the county, out of city commission control so that 20% of the rooms can be reserved for smokers if the hotel so desires. How many people who are just passing through on their way north, south, east, or west, will just drive on to the next town so that they do not have to get up get dressed and go outside to have their morning cigarette?
3/18/2010
A772L says….
just wondering… you must be really needing that minumum wage job..Salina needs more decent paying jobs, not minimum wage service positions.
3/18/2010
says….
salina need’s factory job’s payin in the teen’s. Not another hotel we have plenty
3/18/2010
says….
Salina does not need another hotel . But no one in salina can understand that.A hotel we will get salina
3/17/2010
says….
As long as the hotel isn’t blocking the end of the runway, it should be okay. Now where are the tourists coming from and what are they coming to see?
3/17/2010
Just Wondering says….
This comment is for “A7Z2L”. Your comment was made without any thought evidently. This hotel will produce jobs for those who build the hotel all the way to the employees that work there once it is built. Yes it will give us another hotel in Salina but that hotel will generate money for the city and it’s citizens. Those people that stay at the hotel will spend money on food and other items, which will help Salina. So tell me again where the problem is with this hotel.
3/17/2010
A7Z2L says….
Just what Salina needs.. Another hotel. This will reaffirm Salina’s position as the hotel capital of Kansas.
3/17/2010
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