It sure sounds like plans for a seven-story hotel on the edge of the Kansas University campus will win city approval, but commissioners Tuesday night delayed the project for more than a month over concerns about process.

“I think this is one of the best looking projects we’ve had come before the board,” City Commissioner Mike Amyx said. “But after getting bit on the tail for the last few weeks for procedure issues, I think we have to make sure we have the right procedures in place.”

That means plans for The Oread Inn, a 105,000-square-foot hotel project slated for 12th and Indiana streets, will go back to the city’s Historic Resources Commission for more review.

Commissioners all said they liked the plan, but unanimously agreed to send the project back to the historic resources board after developers unveiled several changes to the exterior design of the building. Those changes had never been reviewed by the Historic Resources Commission, which must decide whether the project would negatively impact the surrounding historic properties in the Oread Neighborhood.

Members of the development group – which is led by executives of the Gene Fritzel Construction Co. – had urged commissioners to approve the project without sending it back to the Historic Resources Commission. The developers said the changes they made were in response to aesthetic concerns that members of the architecture community and others had made about the hotel over the last several weeks.

But they said the new design – mainly changes to the rooflines and window openings – did not change the major characteristics of the building. Paul Werner, a local architect for the project, said the height of the building remains at about 90 feet, and the footprint of the building is unchanged. The height and mass of the building were the major issues that caused the Historic Resources Commission earlier this year to find that the project would negatively impact the surrounding historic district. Werner said the new design wasn’t likely to cause the HRC to change its opinion.

“If you throw this back to the HRC, we’ll be back here in about two months with the same issues,” Werner said. “It is still a big building, and it is still seven stories.”

Reluctant review

Commissioners said they weren’t pleased to send the issue back to the HRC because they thought the developers were being punished by having the project delayed simply because they made a good-faith effort to make the design more acceptable to the community.

But the City Commission has recently been criticized over the process it used to give about $1 million in economic development incentives to Deciphera Pharmaceuticals. Commissioners said they didn’t want this project to get caught up in that type of controversy.

“I don’t want this project to be colored by process,” Mayor Sue Hack said. “I think it is too important of a project that could really benefit this community.”

The building’s height and mass have been the major concern expressed by members of the Lawrence Preservation Alliance and a handful of other residents who have opposed the project. At Tuesday night’s meeting, all five commissioners indicated they probably could live with the height and size of the building.

Commissioners said they found persuasive a report by the developer showing the hotel project would be a money loser if it eliminated the top two floors of the project.

David Longhurst, a member of the development group, said removing the top two floors would significantly reduce the project’s ability to generate revenue but would not cause the building’s fixed costs to significantly decline.

The feasibility report estimates that the project – for its first three years – basically would be a break-even proposition with seven stories. But with only five stories, the project would lose about $1.7 million during its first three years.

Decisions in 2008

The new design of the project is expected to be discussed by the Historic Resources Commission at its Dec. 20 meeting. City commissioners could hear the project again in early January.

Commissioners did move ahead on a $25,000 study examining the financial feasibility of the project. That study – which will be paid for by the developers – is required by state law since the developers are asking for public financing.

The development group is seeking both tax increment financing and the creation of a transportation development district to help pay for street improvements, the hotel’s underground parking garage and other infrastructure improvements.

The two public financing mechanisms allow for future tax revenues that are above the amount the property currently generates to be earmarked for the infrastructure projects. If the property doesn’t generate enough new taxes to pay for the public debt, the development group has guaranteed to make up any shortfall.

Commissioners will decide whether to approve the public financing portion of the project after the feasibility study is completed early next year.