Second hotel on UL Land in the works

[NewsCopy]

  A second hotel may be built in UL’s Research Park.

Next week, the University of Louisiana System will consider whether to approve hotel developers Jackie’s International and ProImage Property to lease an additional two acres in the research park.

The developers constructed and manage the Hilton Garden Inn in the park across from the Cajundome. The hotel has built-in classrooms and offers in-house training for the university’s hospitality management students.

The same setup would be in the new facility, said Tommy Vervaeke, owner of ProImage Property.

But this hotel will try to target the state and federal employees who have business in the research park, Vervaeke said.

“We want to accommodate people who are doing business there who work for the federal government or state,” Vervaeke said. “Those guys are on a per diem. ... It’s hard for us to accommodate them at the Hilton.”

The hotel is still in the planning phases, but may be about 100 rooms, he said.

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Marsha Sills
msills@theadvertiser.com

[LsuULfan]

Can see advantages; lease $, places to stay for games, close to LITE and Wetlands Center and wd work well w/convention center.

But-given limited university land in the area and w/one hotel already-is this the best utilization of limited space (contrast that use w/use for LITE and the Wetlands Center).

Are there other long term plans for other land in this area?

[ulforlife]

_ Can see advantages; lease $, places to stay for games, close to LITE and Wetlands Center and wd work well w/convention center.

But-given limited university land in the area and w/one hotel already-is this the best utilization of limited space (contrast that use w/use for LITE and the Wetlands Center).

Are there other long term plans for other land in this area? _

But this is what Research Park is going to be used for. It is not the plan to use it to extend the regular campus. I think it's a good idea. They need to work on that restaurant though...

[CajunAmos]

I know they play a part in the classroom, but does the University get any monetary benefits from the hotel(s) on its property?

[LsuULfan]

Will Hotel 2 participate in instruction/training?

If so-is it something not being handled by Hotel 1, or is there additional training capacity needed?

[Hammer58]

_ Will Hotel 2 participate in instruction/training?

If so-is it something not being handled by Hotel 1, or is there additional training capacity needed? _

The article made it sound like the main target demographic of the new hotel would be government workers who are on per diem. It stated that the current hotel can't cater to that clientele. I take it that they mean its rates are more than the per diem allows. It sounds like this new hotel will be no frills catering to government people working or training at the research park at government per diem rates.

[rhineaux]

_ The article made it sound like the main target demographic of the new hotel would be government workers who are on per diem. It stated that the current hotel can't cater to that clientele. I take it that they mean its rates are more than the per diem allows. It sounds like this new hotel will be no frills catering to government people working or training at the research park at government per diem rates. _

I think it will cater to everyone who doesn't want the frills of the Hilton. I was in town a while back, and got a room there for the night, and let me tell you, there were a lot of frills, for a somewhat reasonable, but higher-end price. Now, for the guy who is coming in from Shreveport to attend a conference at the Wetlands center, or a person coming for a boat show at the Cajundome, or a family of four coming in from New Orleans for a football game, that doesn't need the fancy breakfast, or the granite coutners, or all of the other fancy things, but just needs an affordable place to stay near the university and not all the way on the interstate, then this will be a great place for them.