The proposal to bring a hotel to the Fort Sanders community will go before the Knoxville City Council tonight at 7 in the City-County Building.
The plan moved forward after the Knoxville Metropolitan Planning Commission voted last Thursday to approve the site on the corner of White Avenue and 11th Street for hotel use.
“The commission was very attracted to the economic side of the proposal,” said Norman Whitaker, executive director of MPC. “(The commission) thought the addition of a hotel would be good for the tourism and draw to that part of town.”
The hotel will be funded entirely by private funds and will not need city grants for the project, Whitaker said.
The proposal is being protested by some residents of Fort Sanders. C. Randall DeFord, president of the Historic Fort Sanders Neighborhood Association, said the idea of a hotel in the area didn’t bother him but size was an issue.
“Clearly, we can’t prevent (contractors) from bringing businesses of this kind into the area,” DeFord said. “(The association) just thinks the proposed hotel would be too large and out of place for that block.”
A Courtyard By Marriott hotel was the original chain chosen, but a seven-story Hilton Garden Suites was the design presented to the MPC. The hotel would have underground parking and take up most of the block between White Avenue and Clinch Avenue, running next to 11th Street.
DeFord said he and the HFSNA wouldn’t be as opposed to the hotel idea if the proposal was changed to a bed-and-breakfast or smaller design.
“We just want the integrity of the area to be maintained,” DeFord said. “All we can do now is see if the (City Council) listens to us.”
The proposal didn’t immediately win favor with the MPC but was pasted by a 16-1 vote by the commission. The MPC’s research staff originally turned down the idea before sending it to the voting commission. Whitaker, who is part of the research staff, said the hotel’s size was an issue.
“When you looked at the design, it just took up too much of that block,” Whitaker said. “But the commission was really impressed with the private funding, so the bill went through to allow the area to be used for a hotel.”
According to real estate development manager Bob Latimer, the hotel should fit into the area, regardless of the size.
“The hotel won’t be taking up the whole block, and there should be plenty of room so that it doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb,” Latimer said. “The design will fit accordingly with the homes in the area.”
DeFord said even if the hotel isn’t an eyesore, looking at history the project isn’t a good idea. He said two other hotels designed for use by UT’s campus have been built off 17th Street and now have been converted to student housing.
“If you look at those past projects, you see the feasibility of a hotel in a residential area just doesn’t always work out,” DeFord said. “We want the council to take that into consideration.”
