Owners of the Regency Hotel downtown want to raze the nearly 40-year-old structure and replace it with a larger hotel and parking garage.

Parker Eshelman photo

Mike Ebert and Keith Owens, owners of the Regency Hotel, plan to raze the downtown structure at 1111 E. Broadway and build a larger hotel with parking garage in its place.

The project - expected to cost $16 million - was pitched recently to Columbia officials, who since have added it to a growing list of projects being eyed as part of a plan to redevelop a portion of the downtown area.

Early plans call for the five-story, 100-room hotel at 1111 E. Broadway to be torn down. A six-story, 120-room facility affiliated with a national hotel chain would go up in its place, and a parking garage would be built on two surface parking lots just north of the existing building.

The hotel owners also might ask the city to help fund the project with money from incentive programs such as tax increment financing. A so-called "transportation development district" also could be created to pay for part of the project.

Mike Ebert, who bought the hotel in 2003 with business partner Keith Owens, said the project is in line with suggestions made by Boston-based consultants Sasaki Associates for downtown redevelopment.

The city hired Sasaki last year as part of a joint effort by the city, the University of Missouri-Columbia and Stephens College to draft plans designed to make downtown more vibrant and prosperous. The firm’s plans for downtown Columbia include retail shops, residential developments and a new hotel/conference center tentatively envisioned for Eighth and Cherry streets.

Ebert

"We’ve been talking about how to maximize our potential," Ebert said of his plans for the hotel. "The Sasaki report kind of put us in fast-forward mode."

While members of the Columbia City Council have indicated they’re generally supportive of separate plans to raze the Regency and renovate the historic Tiger building on Eighth Street into a "boutique" hotel, some say the city should wait before considering specific projects for the area.

Since the Sasaki report was released, it has been considered by city officials as a suggestion for redeveloping downtown, not a plan. Officials now are working to create a special board that would examine plans for downtown and suggest ways to get the projects moving.

Fifth Ward Councilwoman Laura Nauser said the city should have more definite plans in place before it considers specific projects from developers.

"It seems like we’ve got people wanting to take advantage of the plan before the plan’s even in place," she said.

Third Ward Councilman Karl Skala said he "has some reservations" about considering developers’ projects before guidelines are put in place to guide downtown redevelopment plans.

The planning process could take time, but Ebert said he is "ready to go" on the Regency project. He said he would like to present the plans to the city council in July.

Rebuilding the Regency - which opened in 1968 and has at one time flown the flags of companies such as Ramada, Best Western and Sheraton - already has some support, despite plans to turn the nearby Tiger into an upscale "boutique hotel."

"We love it, love it, love it, love it," said Lorah Steiner, executive director of the Columbia Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.

Steiner said the Regency project would add a number of hotel rooms downtown and provide parking in the area, an option the Tiger project wouldn’t offer.

Ebert said his hotel would cater to a different clientele than the Tiger.

"We would be more of a new hotel, more high-tech," he said. "We’re going to be a latter part of a generation-X and Y hotel, and" the Tiger "is going to be a historic hotel for people interested in that sort of thing."

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