The Sun Sunnyvale's Newspaper Hotel backs out, slowing plans for downtown By Justin Berton The luxury hotel that was to be the cornerstone of the new downtown has pulled out of the deal, temporarily pushing back the project, director of community development David Boesch said last week. Boesch said Woodside Hotels, the primary hotelier sought to build the planned 140-room structure, pulled out of the project due to an overload of several other projects under construction. "There has been some slippage in the schedule," Boesch said. Boesch said a new traffic analysis in the downtown area and an environmental impact report were also causing a push back in the project. According to the contract for the downtown with Mozart Development Group, designers were scheduled to bring detailed plans for the area before the City Council for review by Feb. 9. Now, the council and residents will most likely have to wait until spring to see the plans, according to Mozart spokesperson Jim Baer. Baer downplayed the Woodside back out and said the group was continuing talks with several other hotel groups. "A hotel is absolutely in the plans," Baer said. "Nothing has changed." Baer added that Woodside was only hired to help "set the parameters" of what type of hotel would be the best match for the downtown. Boesch said construction of the hotel was scheduled to be the first phase of the project, but now could be pushed back to the second phase. One of the two office-retail buildings could be the first structure raised, he said. "The hotel is still a big part of the package," Boesch said. "It's unlikely it will be in the first phase of the project, but it will remain in the project." The hotel is most likely to be placed at the prominent corner of Mathilda and Washington avenues. Boesch said Woodside was preapproved for the project because the hotelier filled the niche the city was looking for--upscale, quaint, and catering to the traveling Silicon Valley businessperson. A new environmental impact report and traffic studies are being conducted after meetings with the Town Center's new owners. American Malls Properties has unveiled ambitious new plans to resurrect the mall in sync with the new downtown. Town Center officials have said they plan to install a new multi-screen movie theater complex, new restaurants and other family entertainment venues--all of which would lure more people to the area. The studies should be completed after the new year. As it stands now, the hunt for a hotelier continues, both Baer and Boesch agreed. The hotel industry market may make the wait a long one. "It's my experience that it is one of the most volatile markets," Boesch said. "It takes a little bit of crystal- balling to anticipate when and where to build [the hotel]." [ Back to Contents Page | Sunnyvale Sun Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, December 23, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.