Two months after his original plans to build a hotel on Park Point were rejected by the Duluth City Council, Joel Johnson is back with a new plan.
And on Tuesday night, his revised preliminary plans to construct a hotel on land that's currently home to his business Lakehead Boat Basin Inc. received a favorable review from the Duluth Planning Commission.
Johnson and his partners initially sought a larger hotel footprint that would have taken it into part of the Point that's zoned R-1 residential, for single-family dwellings. The planning commission denied a rezoning request for that project, and the developers unsuccessfully appealed the decision to the City Council.
Along the way, many people in the surrounding neighborhood rose up to oppose the project.
But Heather Rand, president of the planning commission, is optimistic the scaled-back hotel will be more warmly received, as it doesn't infringe on neighboring residences.
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"I'm so pleased they were willing not to give up on their dream, even if it was of a smaller scale than they originally intended," said Rand.
She said the new plans appear to be in keeping with what the planning commission had recommended from the beginning.
Johnson said he hopes to submit a more detailed site plan to the city planning department in November for review. If all goes smoothly, he expects to open a 53-room hotel in 2011, with construction occurring through the winter.
He had ballparked the price of his original hotel project at about $7 million. Johnson suspects that designing and engineering the hotel to occupy a smaller site will drive the price up to somewhere in the $8 million to $9 million range.
Although he's not yet sure how tall the hotel will be, Johnson said he's confident the project can be built without requiring variances.
The proposed hotel is expected to receive much of its business from boaters. Johnson said he has invested in a system of neighboring docks that can accommodate vessels up to 250 feet in length.
