Wuptdo
02-18-2004, 11:23 AM
This caught my eye this morning in the N&O. If you decide to read it, think about the theme song from the 70's sitcom, "The Jeffersons," i.e., moving on up!
Wednesday, February 18, 2004 7:41AM EST
Goodnight details her hotel plans
Hotel may be done as soon as 2005
By DUDLEY PRICE, Staff Writer
Plans for a luxury hotel in Cary are moving forward, with groundbreaking scheduled in August and completion as soon as next year.
Construction of the 151-room hotel, The Umstead, is being bankrolled by Jim Goodnight, co-founder of Cary's SAS Institute, the largest private U.S. software company, and his wife, Ann.
"We get a lot of executives coming into our area -- certainly SAS does -- and it would be wonderful to have a quality hotel for these visitors," Ann Goodnight said. "I convinced Jim I really wanted to do this."
She predicted that The Umstead will be unmatched in the Triangle, and should rate a four- or five-star rating, the top ranking handed out by Mobil Travel Guide. She has hired Frank Nicholson, a Boston-area firm, to design the interior. A spokeswoman for the company said the company works only on five-star properties.
Nicholson was decorator for The Breakers Palm Beach, Ritz-Carlton Central Park and Four Seasons San Francisco, she said.
Goodnight said she visited the Four Seasons San Francisco and was impressed with the furnishings.
"I wanted to know who did it," Goodnight said. "We interviewed others, but I liked the look Frank brings to it."
Design will be by Three Architecture of Dallas. The company designed Raffles L'Ermitage and The Peninsula hotels in Beverly Hills, Calif. and San Antonio's Westin Riverwalk. Goodnight said they were selected because the firm's speciality is designing hotels for small sites.
The Umstead is planned for 3.5 acres at The Arboretum, a shopping center at Weston Parkway and Harrison Avenue, about a quarter-mile west of the SAS campus.
Although the design is still unfinished, plans call for 17 suites, 7,000 square feet of meeting space, a 12,000-square-foot spa, sculpture garden, deluxe pool and 350 parking spaces underneath the five-story building.
The hotel probably will house a first-class restaurant and possibly a coffee-shop style restaurant as well, said Bob Schofield, a Washington-based hospitality consultant working on the project.
Goodnight said she didn't know what the project might cost, but industry analysts have said construction costs for a luxury hotel can run $250,000 per room, compared with $60,000 to $70,000 per room for a mid-price property such as a Hampton Inn. At that rate, total construction would easily exceed $35 million.
The Umstead will be independently owned and managed, and Schofield is expected to be named general manager, Goodnight said.
Maybe they are building the new conventional center in the wrong place?
Wuptdo B-)
Wednesday, February 18, 2004 7:41AM EST
Goodnight details her hotel plans
Hotel may be done as soon as 2005
By DUDLEY PRICE, Staff Writer
Plans for a luxury hotel in Cary are moving forward, with groundbreaking scheduled in August and completion as soon as next year.
Construction of the 151-room hotel, The Umstead, is being bankrolled by Jim Goodnight, co-founder of Cary's SAS Institute, the largest private U.S. software company, and his wife, Ann.
"We get a lot of executives coming into our area -- certainly SAS does -- and it would be wonderful to have a quality hotel for these visitors," Ann Goodnight said. "I convinced Jim I really wanted to do this."
She predicted that The Umstead will be unmatched in the Triangle, and should rate a four- or five-star rating, the top ranking handed out by Mobil Travel Guide. She has hired Frank Nicholson, a Boston-area firm, to design the interior. A spokeswoman for the company said the company works only on five-star properties.
Nicholson was decorator for The Breakers Palm Beach, Ritz-Carlton Central Park and Four Seasons San Francisco, she said.
Goodnight said she visited the Four Seasons San Francisco and was impressed with the furnishings.
"I wanted to know who did it," Goodnight said. "We interviewed others, but I liked the look Frank brings to it."
Design will be by Three Architecture of Dallas. The company designed Raffles L'Ermitage and The Peninsula hotels in Beverly Hills, Calif. and San Antonio's Westin Riverwalk. Goodnight said they were selected because the firm's speciality is designing hotels for small sites.
The Umstead is planned for 3.5 acres at The Arboretum, a shopping center at Weston Parkway and Harrison Avenue, about a quarter-mile west of the SAS campus.
Although the design is still unfinished, plans call for 17 suites, 7,000 square feet of meeting space, a 12,000-square-foot spa, sculpture garden, deluxe pool and 350 parking spaces underneath the five-story building.
The hotel probably will house a first-class restaurant and possibly a coffee-shop style restaurant as well, said Bob Schofield, a Washington-based hospitality consultant working on the project.
Goodnight said she didn't know what the project might cost, but industry analysts have said construction costs for a luxury hotel can run $250,000 per room, compared with $60,000 to $70,000 per room for a mid-price property such as a Hampton Inn. At that rate, total construction would easily exceed $35 million.
The Umstead will be independently owned and managed, and Schofield is expected to be named general manager, Goodnight said.
Maybe they are building the new conventional center in the wrong place?
Wuptdo B-)