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Approval of a proposed full-service and extended-stay hybrid Hilton hotel is still pending after Prosper Town Council sent the project back to the Planning and Zoning Commission for further review.
The details
Full-service hotels are permitted in Prosper by right, but extended-stay hotels require town approval through a special use permit.
The commission previously voted against the project 6-0 at a March 25 meeting, citing concerns about the extended-stay portion of the development.
Council voted 4-2 to send the project back to Planning and Zoning based on new information from project representatives at an April 28 meeting. Council members Amy Bartley and Marcus Ray opposed further consideration.
“With PGA and Universal coming, I think it might be a pretty good idea ... but I have trouble going against a P&Z decision that was 6-0. That’s pretty definite,” council member Jeff Hodges said.
How it works
The proposed hotel would be divided into a Hilton Garden Inn with 100 full-service rooms and a Homewood Suites by Hilton with 94 extended-stay rooms, according to town documents.
An extended-stay hotel room includes features like a kitchenette to accommodate stays of five or more days, according to Hilton representative Whitney Knight.
At the proposed dual-brand hotel, each brand would have a separate check-in counter and breakfast area, but would share other amenities, including:
Who it’s for
The extended-stay portion of the hotel is designed to appeal to business travelers, who make up over 60% of Homewood Suites guests, Knight said.
The average guest stays at Homewood Suites for four days, and a standard room costs around $200 per night, project representative Wes Hoblit said.
“This would be unfeasible for somebody to stay here four weeks, five weeks,” he said.
In addition to people traveling for business, Homewood Suites markets its extended-stay experience to families attending out-of-town sports tournaments and patients receiving treatment at nearby hospitals.
The debate
At the March 25 meeting, commissioners were open to the full-service portion of the hotel but had reservations about the extended-stay component.
Prosper currently has four extended-stay hotels in various stages of development, Development Services Director David Hoover said. One is complete, one is under construction, one is in the planning phase, and one has been delayed indefinitely.
Hoover said the commission was concerned that additional extended-stay options could limit future opportunities to build full-service hotels.
“The desire has always been to attract full-service more so than extended-stay,” he said. “From our perspective, it’s more strictly a business decision of how many [hotels] can we handle and what type do we want.”
Next steps
The planning and zoning commission did not hear from Knight or Hoblit before recommending denial.
“I have no doubt that all of this information would influence the planning commission’s discussion and thought ... this information, they had none of that,” Hoover said. “I think that was probably a mistake.”
Council decided to see if the additional information about the dual-branch model, including the intended clientele of the extended-stay component, would change the commission’s recommendation.
After the commission reissues a recommendation based on Knight and Hoblit’s presentations, the project will return to council for a final vote.
