Across from the glistening white exterior of the University of Iowa Voxman Music Building, the city of Iowa City is readying an empty lot for the construction of a new extended-stay hotel.

 Under the Element brand, part of the Marriott family of brands, city officials and developers are preparing a $40.7 million seven-story hotel with 92 units that will be located at the intersection of Burlington and Clinton Streets, said Wendy Ford, the city’s economic-development coordinator. 

The Element Hotel is set to open in 2019. The Hilton Garden Inn is set to open its Iowa City location this year, and the Sheraton is will soon begin rebranding to become a boutique Graduate Hotel. 

The Iowa City City Council’s Economic Development Committee discussed the hotel proposal on July 21 in City Hall, 410 E. Washington St. It will recommend building the hotel to the council.

 Ben Kinseth, the director of operations for Kinseth Hospitality, said the opportunity to build an extended-stay hotel in Iowa City was significant, because the city does not have one.

 “We think it’s a really nice fit also with the Sheraton becoming a boutique-brand hotel, this Element brand being part of Marriott is a nice fit …” he said. Sheraton was under the Marriott brand prior to Graduate’s acquisition.

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 There will be retail and office space on the first two floors, with 43 residential units on the third through seventh floors. Seven on-site affordable units will be available for those at or below 60 percent of the area median income, Ford said.

 City Councilor Susan Mims said there is a challenge to determine where affordable housing should be located in addition to spreading it around the community.

“I think there’s that challenge and that balance that we have to try to look at … in terms of putting affordable housing on some of the most expensive real estate in the city,” she said. “Does that make financial sense? Not saying that we exclude people from downtown in the affordable housing, but where is that balance?” 

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The goal is to ensure everyone has the opportunity to participate in the city’s housing market, City Councilor Rockne Cole said, while doing so in a way that makes financial sense. However, he said, he sees this project fulfilling a need that has existed for a long time in Iowa City.

 “Our downtown is really this beautiful mosaic, and there’s all types of pieces that fit that mosaic,” he said. “One piece that I think has really been missing is this extended stay.” 

Additionally, sustainability has been considered in the construction process. Ford said the hotel developers “in trying to meet green and sustainability hurdles” are committing to achieving gold level of the green seal certification, a third-party nonprofit certification for hotels.

Roof-mounted solar panels will be deployed, generating approximately 38,000 kWh of its own power and reducing carbon emissions, Ford said.

Iowa City Mayor Jim Throgmorton said he thinks it would be an asset for the Downtown District for its promotion of environmental sustainability and consideration of affordable housing, among other factors. He also said it resonates with Voxman’s opening in the fall of 2016 and with the opening of the Hilton Garden Inn later in 2017.

“I think this is such a special intersection that it’s important to get it right, and I think this proposal does,” he said. “It will really enhance that quality of urban walkability, if you will.”

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