A new Courtyard By Marriott hotel is being proposed for the Fort Sanders community to help serve UT, according to a local real estate development manager.

“The new hotel is designed for use by visiting professors, football games and other university events,” said Bob Latimer, real estate manager for University Realty. “Other university communities have proposed similar ideas and had a lot of success by having their own hotel of this type.”

The hotel, proposed to be built on the corner of 11th Street and White Avenue, has caused several UT students to voice concerns of the historical integrity of the area being affected by the new project.

“First and foremost, (the hotel) doesn’t belong in that neighborhood,” said Matt McDonald, resident and UT student senator for the Fort Sanders community. “We need to save all houses we can in the area. … People that live there need to come together and say ‘We don’t want this to happen.'”

McDonald said he understood the reasoning behind the idea but thought the construction and building itself would disturb the “friendly atmosphere” the community represents.

Latimer, a 20-year veteran of the reality industry, said the project was perfectly legal and shouldn’t be a disruption to student life.

“I have been in student housing since the early ’80s,” Latimer said. “The hotel will be built and designed in a way to fit in to the area. Only five houses are being affected anyway, so it won’t make a big difference in student housing.”

Environmental issues are also being raised by members of Students Promoting Environmental Action in Knoxville. Sarah Surak, president of SPEAK, said the removal of student housing would increase pollution from students commuting and from the additional flow of hotel residents in the neighborhood.

Surak was also concerned that the historical value of the area would be affected.

“(Fort Sanders) is a place for students, and this new (hotel) will be out of place,” Surak said. “It will replace low cost housing and will bring in more businesses that will take out even more housing.”

As the manager for the contractors of the site and partial land owner, Latimer maintained the hotel would do nothing but positive things for the community.

“To say that some of the houses on that block have historical value just isn’t right,” Latimer said. “Sometimes people don’t always look at all the issues. If you went down there and saw those homes, you wouldn’t see anything of historical significance.”

Latimer said he had heard several complaints about the historical issue and said the area proposed for the project isn’t under the protection of the Fort Sanders Historical Conservation Plan written in March 2000 to protect most the Fort Sanders community from building projects.

“The area isn’t even zoned for residential purposes, “Latimer said. “It’s zoned for office use. We could have built a major office center there, but we wanted to do something to help the area.”

The City of Knoxville Metropolitan Planning Commission will meet Thursday at 1:30 p.m. to discuss rezoning the area for hotel use. McDonald said several residents would be at the meeting to dispute the changes.

“Think of the situation as putting a 7-11 (gas station) next to your house,” McDonald said. “It just wouldn’t fit there, would it?”

Whether the plan will damage the historical value of the area may be in question, but the new project will be forcing some UT students to find new housing.

Stephanie Nichopoulos, a junior in psychology and resident in the proposed site, said the new hotel will probably benefit UT but has her looking for a new home sooner than expected.

“When (my roommates and I) moved here last fall, we thought we would have at least two years,” Nichopoulos said. “I’m sad they’re tearing it down, but these houses aren’t that nice anyway. … I can see the hotel being really convenient for the school.”

When the MPC meets Thursday, Latimer said it is unlikely he will attend, but that he hopes the commission will remember what he learned while working in the real estate industry.

“It’s been my experience that you might have 20 people against something, but you always have 3,000 in support or who don’t care,” Latimer said. “The problem is those 20 are usually just more vocal. I hope people remember that.”