Now that local officials have ended negotiations for the construction of a convention center host hotel in Bloomington, what’s next? Here’s what we know.
Where is the convention center being built?
The new $71 million convention center is being built on the lot southeast of the intersection of West Third Street and South College Avenue. The center is across College Avenue and to the east of the existing convention center. The two portions will be connected with a skybridge above College Avenue.
Why does the convention center require a hotel?
Tourism, city and business officials have said that without a big, connected hotel, the county won’t be able to attract the kinds of large conventions for which they’re expanding the convention center. The only connected option — the Courtyard by Marriott — has just 117 rooms.
Why did local officials end negotiations with the hotelier?
The Monroe County Capital Improvement Board in fall 2024 chose Dora Hospitality to build the convention center host hotel.
Negotiations failed twice — first over financing, then over a disagreement about whether a city-owned south parcel would be donated.
Dora initially planned to build a 200-room hotel with a 125-seat restaurant, coffee shop and “destination rooftop bar” on the block north of the existing convention center, bordered by Third and Fourth streets, the B-Line trail to the west and College Avenue to the east.
That project fell apart for financial reasons. The block is owned by the city, and the administration of Mayor Kerry Thomson considered making the property available to Dora for a “nominal amount” but changed course because members of the Bloomington Council objected. The city paid $7 million to acquire the land.
Even if the city had donated the land, the project likely would not have worked as planned, because the gap between incentives Dora needed and what the city was willing to provide was near $15 million.
The CIB and Dora late last year shifted their focus to city-owned land south of the existing convention center.
After Dora proposed a new hotel plan for that property, the CIB asked the city in January to transfer the property, assuming, based on letters between the CIB and the mayor’s office, that the property would be available for the project for free. However, the Thomson administration informed the CIB in late January that the southern property also would require payment, prompting the CIB to end negotiations with Dora.
Where is the convention center host hotel going to be built?
That’s unclear. The CIB’s preferred location remains the block north of the convention center, but as the CIB has no assets with which to acquire the property, the CIB has shifted focus — again — to county-owned property to the convention center’s west.
The CIB has asked commissioners whether they might be willing to donate that land for the hotel project.
Are the commissioners going to donate the land?
That, too, is unclear, though comments from Monroe County Commissioner Julie Thomas indicate the county is at least considering the CIB’s request. The county also donated the land on which the convention center expansion is being built.
Thomas said via email Tuesday, “This is the second request for property from the CIB, the first request was granted, and the County transferred the property to the CIB for no charge.”
Commissioners are scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026.
What do we know about the county-owned property?
The county owns several parcels that combined cover about 1 acre. The county acquired the parcels through quit claim deeds — a way to transfer property without guaranteeing the title is clean — in 2025 from the Monroe County Convention Center Building Corp., which had owned the parcels since 1993.
No money changed hands in the transactions, according to local property records. The parcels have an assessed value of about $600,000.
How long will it take to build the hotel?
CIB President John Whikehart has said it will take about 2.5 years to get the hotel built.
Whikehart said via email Wednesday that the CIB plans to review the hotel project’s scope before officially kicking off the new search for a partner, though he could not say exactly when that would be.
“I cannot predict when as it is dependent on real estate issues being resolved,” he said.
What is the Monroe County Capital Improvement Board?
The Monroe County commissioners created the CIB in 2024 to shepherd the convention center project to completion, after city and county officials had squabbled about the expansion for years.
The dispute threatened to derail the project. State legislators said if local officials didn’t make progress, the state might repeal the food and beverage tax, which is paying for the project.
CIB members appointed by the commissioner and Bloomington’s mayor. Whikehart was appointed by the commissioners.
When will the convention center be completed?
City, county and other civic leaders ceremoniously broke ground Tuesday, June 3, 2025, and officials expect construction to be completed in early 2027.
What’s the breakdown of the $71 million cost?
Local officials expect the expansion to cost about $71 million, including construction, architectural design, signage, security, utilities, fixtures and furniture. Hard construction costs are expected to be $52 million.
Who will pay for the new Bloomington Convention Center?
The expansion will be paid by the city of Bloomington, which is borrowing the money and will use proceeds from the food and beverage tax to make the annual debt payment. The tax, with approval from the state legislature in 2017, enabled Monroe County to adopt the tax that year. It requires everyone who buys a prepared meal in the county — at bars, restaurants and grocery stores — to pay 1% extra.
At the end of 2024, the city had about $21 million in food and beverage tax dollars. The county has a much smaller share. According to a document provided by the Bloomington City Council, the city projects the tax to generate at least $4.2 million annually, while annual debt payments would be about $320,000 below that.
What’s next?
Commissioner may address the CIB request for the land donation in Thursday’s commissioner meeting.
Boris Ladwig can be reached at bladwig@heraldt.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Hotel for convention center in limbo. Will county donate land?
Reporting by Boris Ladwig, The Herald-Times / The Herald-Times
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