Can Belleville support a new, upscale hotel? Here’s the city’s latest plan
If you’re looking for a national hotel brand in the metro-east, you can find about 20 concentrated along Interstate 64.
But if you want to stay in a national-brand hotel in Belleville, there’s only one, the Super 8 at 600 E. Main St.
In an effort to increase hotel choices for visitors to Belleville, city leaders agreed to pay $82,610 to a consulting company to perform a market study that would be used to attract a hotel to the city.
Steadfast City Economic & Community Partners of St. Louis has been contracted to perform the study and finish it by June.
Mayor Jenny Gain Meyer said the study will be something the city can show to hotel companies that, “Hey, we’re ready for a hotel.”
Meyer told City Council members at their Aug. 18 meeting that the Steadfast City report will be more meaningful to potential hotel developers than just city officials telling the companies that Belleville has the customer base to support a hotel.
The council voted 12-1 to approve the Steadfast City contract, with Ward 1 Alderwoman Lillian Schneider casting the only dissenting vote.
Schneider said she opposes spending $82,610 for a hotel market study because the city is in the process of finding a new director of economic development and she believes that person should be tasked with finding a company willing to build a hotel in Belleville.
“That’s what they’re supposed to be doing,” she said of the new director of economic development. “We’ve been without a hotel this long, we can go a month or two farther yet.”
Cliff Cross, the city’s previous director of economic development, recently resigned.
Schneider noted the former Hofbräuhaus site off Illinois 15 has the space for a hotel and utilities are already installed. The initial developers of that site had proposed to build multiple hotels on the land across from the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows, but their plans didn’t materialize. The city spent $2.42 million to extend sewer lines to this site.
Schneider said the $82,610 earmarked for the Steadfast City study could have been used elsewhere in the city, such as making repairs to the chapel at Mount Hope Cemetery, which the city purchased last year.
“We’re not watching out for the taxpayers’ money,” she said.
Hotel market study for Belleville
Meyer said in an interview there are events and programs in the city that could yield potential customers for a new hotel. As an example, she cited the redevelopment of the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds, which includes a new racetrack expected to open next year.
Companies such as Illinois American and Ameren host multiday meetings for employees who could be hotel customers in Belleville, Meyer said.
Meyer said city leaders would like to see a national brand hotel built in the city but “maybe there is a boutique hotel that could work for us somewhere in the downtown area.”
These types of hotels offer unique themes and personalized service.
Here are highlights of what Steadfast City will do:
- Perform a “market overview analysis.” This includes a community profile of key industries and things for tourists to do.
- Analyze the demand and market for lodging services. Highlight “unmet demand for certain hotel types or amenities.”
- Evaluate up to three specific sites or existing buildings as potential sites for hotel development and analyze the financial feasibility of these sites.
During the council meeting, Schneider asked Meyer if Steadfast City will “guarantee us” that the company would get a hotel to open in Belleville.
Meyer quickly answered with a “no.”
“This is not a guarantee,” she added.
In an interview after the meeting, Meyer expressed a positive outlook when asked if she thinks city leaders could attract a new hotel after waiting decades for one to open.
“I’m optimistic about it, yeah,” she said.
