Let me call this special meeting of the Monroe County Capital Improvement Board of February 5th, 2026
to order. So I will ask Mr. Whitlatch to take the role. John Weichart. Present. Doug Bruce. Here. Galen
Cassidy. Here. Joyce Poling. Here. Jim Silverstein. Here. Adam Tease. Here. Jay Baer. I am here remotely.
I will announce that prior to our meeting,
Mr. Teese was newly sworn in to a new term as a member of our board. Congratulations. Thank you. Yeah.
I'm sorry I missed it. We were going to have a cake and everything, and it's just happened around us
and everything. We have one item on our agenda today, a board discussion about the hotel, the interlocal
agreement, real estate. Before moving to any discussion and actions,
On matters on the agenda, it's helpful to summarize events that bring us to today. In April 2024, the
CIB requested identification from the city of Bloomington and Monroe County of properties for transfer
for the Convention Center expansion project. The project was defined to include a host hotel. This request
was required by the Monroe County ordinance that created the CIB in 2023 and the 2024 interlocal agreement
between the city and county.
In May 2024, the county identified parcels to the east and west for transfer for the project, and the
city identified parcels to the south and north for transfer for the project, but distinguished parcels
to the north, what we refer to as the Bunger Robertson site, from the south parcel, stating that the
north parcels require negotiation with the city for purchase. The CIB subsequently chose the east location
for the new construction, for the convention center expansion,
Upon this selection, the county donated the east parcels to the project. At the same time, the CIB released
a RFP for hotel development, identifying the south and west parcels as available for a hotel and the
north parcels for purchase through negotiation with the city. Through the RFP process, the CIB selected
Dora Hospitality as the hotelier.
Dora preferred the North site. So in October, 2024, the CIB referred Dora to the city for negotiations.
The CIB was not involved in those negotiations. At the December 17th, 2025 meeting of the CIB, both
Dora Hospitality and the city reported that after 14 months, there was no path forward between them
for a host hotel on the North site.
The CIB then set a deadline of the CIB meeting of January 21st, 2026 for Dora to advise the CIB whether
it would commit to a host hotel on the South parcels with the understanding that the CIB had no other
incentives to offer, but the land identified by the city in May, 2024. At our January 21st,
2026 CIB meeting, Dora proposed a letter of intent
to build on the south parcels without any additional public subsidies but for the donation of the land
and the LOI did not address the issue of parking. An inquiry was made to the city regarding the transfer
of the south parcels for a hotel consistent with the May 2024 letter from the city. The city scheduled
today's meeting to give our hotel evaluation group time to review the LOI under the above scenario.
On January 28, 2026, City of Bloomington Corporation Council Margie Rice responded on behalf of the
city to the Southland Transfer Inquiry. The response stated that the properties to the south would require
review and negotiation for price or consideration from the CIB to the city for transfer of the south
parcels for a hotel or other purposes.
This past Friday, our hotel evaluation group met to discuss Dora's LOI and the position from the city
regarding the south parcels. Dora confirmed their commitment was to the LOI of January 21st, 2026, which
required the land donation. We now find ourselves in the following position. The city's position on
acquisition of its parcels north and now south is clear.
and the CIB does not have the ability to meet any price or consideration it requires. The CIB cannot
agree to the LOI from DORA because we do not have the land it requires. The CIB needs to consider its
obligations and the need for access to land for parking, a hotel, and for other purposes for the project.
We now find ourselves at an impasse. For us to proceed, it is imperative that the issue of transfer
and ownership of land
for any needs of the project must be resolved. To move our meeting to discussion, I am asking if there
is a motion for the following. To inquire if the county will review its parcels near or adjacent to
the Convention Center expansion project for the purpose of donation and transfer to CIB ownership. And
to notify Dora Hospitality that at this time we are ending the original RFP process regarding a host hotel.
If and when the CIB has ownership of real estate determines its best uses for a convention center host
hotel and issues a new RFP, we will invite Dora Hospitality to respond if they still have interest.
So I am asking at this point if there is a motion to that effect so that we can have discussion. It's
been moved. Second. And seconded. So it's been moved.
And seconded, I would now open the floor for discussion or comments from members of the CIB regarding
the motion. Mr. Teese. I think it's really good and wise that we would kind of back up here. And while
this comes across as very dramatic of ending, this is a process. And cities evolve and they take time
and they move in different directions.
So in some ways, I think the reality is we're on the cusp of building a really exciting center. It's
really fun to see this deal go up. I would encourage all of the people who are paying attention to our
meeting or who read the media that's involved that we've got a real success happening here. It's gonna
be very exciting. And I think at the end of the day, it's gonna help preserve this facility that we're
sitting in. And so there's success that's happening.
I think starting to think about how to redevelop adjacent land, you want to do it thoughtfully. You're
not making a throwaway item that goes away in two days, two years, or hopefully not even 20 years. You're
making an item that lasts many, many, many decades, if not longer. So I think the overall general tone
of this is being thoughtful, and being thoughtful leads to hopeful city building success. So I just
want to...
encourage the group that as we consider this seems logical to be moving methodically and thoughtfully
on these topics. Thank you. Other comments, discussion? Other board members? Yes, Mr. Bruce. Yes, as
part of the hotel evaluation committee, I think it's really fair and I agree that we should release
Dora from the LOI
and halt the RFP process. Again, as you stated, we don't have the land and we don't really want to impose
any more time or money, dollars of DORA's time, putting something together for which we do not own or
cannot offer at this time. So I would agree completely. Thank you. Other comments, Mr. Silverstein?
Yeah, I think it's critical that we have clarity on
the control of the property, which properties we control around the Game Management Center. And we don't
have clarity on that at this point. Anyone else? Yeah, I want to re-emphasize when we talk about the
project, there are multiple aspects to ownership of land. We have parking we're going to have to deal
with. We certainly have a host hotel that's been assigned to us as part of the project.
There will be much to consider, but we can't consider any of it until we have ownership of real estate.
Other comments? Mr. Baer? Yeah, just to reiterate, I mean, it's unfortunate that we have to set this
aside for now, but this is not a circumstance where anybody has necessarily fallen short of
their expectations or what they have talked about in the past. I think we, as a CIB, thank the city
and their staff for all the work they spent negotiating this program. Certainly we thank DORA for the
time and effort they put into responding to the RFP initially and negotiating with the city for now
what is nearly a year and a half. So I think it's unfortunate that we have to take a step back, but
it's the wise and prudent thing to do.
Sometimes this is the way these kind of projects unfold and certainly optimistic that we will get a
circumstance that will be to the ultimate benefit of the citizens of Monroe County and the
city of Bloomington at the end of the day. Thank you. Any other comments from board members? Okay, seeing
none, we have a motion.
to inquire if the county will review its parcels near or adjacent to the Convention Center expansion
project for the purpose of donation and transfer to CIB ownership and to notify Dora Hospitality that
this time we are ending the original RFP process regarding a host hotel. If and when the CIB has ownership
of real estate, determines its best uses for a Convention Center host hotel and issues a new RFP, we
will invite Dora Hospitality to respond if they still have interest. So that's the
Motion on the floor. Would you please take the role? Yes, and the role will not include Mr. Baer, who
is being sworn in on Monday. So we'll have the next meeting for him to be officially sworn in and voting.
But the individuals that will vote, John Weichart? Yes. Doug Bruce? Yes. Galen Cassidy? Yes. Joyce Poling?
Yes. Jim Silverstein? Yes. Adam Tease? Yes. Thank you.
So the motion passes. Let me conclude by simply asking Mr. Whitlatch to formally communicate this information
to both the county and to Dora Hospitality to thank Dora Hospitality for their time and effort to date.
I would also comment that we've known for quite some time that we're going to have a gap between the
completion of the Convention Center expansion and when a host hotel would ever be online. And we've
always known that that hotel process would be probably a two and a half year process. And it continues
to move out two and a half years. So now it's two and a half years from today or two and a half years
from ever we get all of this resolved. So we've always known that that gap would exist. And I wanna
mention he couldn't be with us today, but Mike McAfee from Visit Bloomington wanted me
to emphasize that we continue to work on attracting and booking conventions with our local hotels. And
Mike has told me how pleased he is at the cooperation he's receiving from our current group of local
hotels as we book conventions out. Even now, we're looking at them out into 2028.
and that we now are able to work with our local hotels and we're able to get more guaranteed rooms in
that process and that he's pleased with that, pleased with that cooperation. He and the staff at the
Convention Center have been working very diligently on that and so this doesn't mean that we're
not going to open an expansion and not have dealt with hotel spaces. And the staff of Visit Bloomington
and the Convention Center are working diligently on that as we move forward and will continue to do
so. So having said that, that concludes our business for today. Our next board meeting is February 18th,
2026 at 3 p.m. and we are adjourned. Thank you.