By William Crum Staff Writer wcrum@oklahoman.com
The Oklahoma City Council voted Tuesday in favor of public financing for a new downtown hotel, under the Omni luxury brand, to be built adjacent to the MAPS 3 convention center.
The vote was 7-2.
Consultants and experts in the convention business say a headquarters hotel is necessary to the success of the convention center, which is financed by the 1-cent MAPS 3 sales tax.
Oklahoma City is to provide $85.4 million in financing, while Omni invests $150.1 million.
Cathy O'Connor, president and chief executive officer of The Alliance for Economic Development of Oklahoma City, said the hotel fits the concept behind MAPS 3.
"One of the main goals of the MAPS 3 projects was to spur private investment in and around the investments" made by the city, she said.
"This project is designed to create new economic impacts and benefits to Oklahoma City," O'Connor said, "by attracting additional conventions, visitor, trade show, public exhibition, and other types of public events that require a large quantity of hotel rooms.
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