Developer to propose 100-room hotel be built next to renovated Pope Center
By KIP BURKE news editor

A broadcast and cable entrepreneur and a national hotel chain see enough promise in Washington and Wilkes County to propose building a $5.5 million, 100-room hotel adjacent to The Pope Center.

Alvin James, CEO of Alvin James Group Development, told a Washington City Council retreat Wednesday that his group was proposing building a mid-market, nationalchain hotel. "We're prepared to make a commitment to build this hotel at a cost of $5.5 million," he said. "We've looked at the market, and with the activity that takes place on both sides of this city, we feel the density of the market can sustain a 100-room hotel."

The matter is expected to come before the City Council next Monday, when the council will consider whether to exchange the land adjacent to The Pope Center to the hotel group in exchange for the remodeling debt on the center.

The proposed hotel would be a Baymont Inn and Suites, a mid-level brand of the Wyndham Hotel Group, which owns Ramada, Howard Johnson, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Days Inn, Travelodge, and others.

The hotel would work closely with The Pope Center to attract small- and medium-sized conventions and group events. "We're excited about the possibilities of using the conference center to drive traffic to the hotel," James said. Being connected to the worldwide Wyndham Group hotel reservation system, too, will drive business to the hotel and conference center.

The proposed hotel project, he said, rose out of a conversation he had with Mayor Willie Burns months ago in Atlanta about The Pope Center's remodeling and expansion into a conference center. "He was bragging about this conference center you were building, saying it was going to be the cornerstone to attract tourism and create opportunity in the local community," James said. "But he said that the missing component was a hotel."

James told the mayor that his group was in the luxury hotel business, developing luxury hotels around the country, and that he had relationships with many of the middle-market brands in the hotel industry. He researched the market and the city, and determined that a Baymont Inn and Suites would work in Washington.

The hotel and conference center combination could become a launching pad to improve an already growing tourism industry here by bringing in national and regional events, in addition to the smalland medium-sized conferences and group meetings the city already attracts. "I'm going to invest $5.5 million," James said, "so I'm going to be active in marketing and promoting this hotel through my other business ventures. The world is waiting to be invited to Washington."

James said that he knew he would have to train local workers in the hospitality business, and says he wants to do that and far more. "We want to expose youth to entrepreneurship and the art of starting businesses," he said. Through his connections with Donald Trump, James said, he might be able to arrange teleconference programs for both youth and adults.

"We know there's a workforce here that needs to be trained," he said. "You have the potential to grow a pool of talented workers here."

The issue will be considered at Monday's Washington City Council meeting, which will be held at The Pope Center at 6 p.m. At that point, the council will vote to develop a Memorandum of Understanding on how to proceed with the hotel project.

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