Coralville considers hotel for Brown Deer Golf Club

City officials are interested in adding a hotel to the city-owned Brown Deer Golf Club.

The city has been negotiating a land lease agreement with developer Fairway Suites to build a hotel at the public 18-hole golf course, which is north of Interstate 80 at 1900 Country Club Dr.

The City Council on Aug. 9 is to vote on setting a public hearing for Aug. 23 on the lease.

If the deal goes forward, Fairway Suites would bring in a brand-name hotel, said Brian Burton, the Overland Park, Kan., company's chief operating officer. The company has talked with hotels about the Coralville site, he said, but declined to say more. It works with Hilton, Marriott, Drury and others, he said.

Fairway Suites offers a niche business of building hotels on golf courses. The concept started three years ago with a Marriott TownePlace Suites in Overland Park. That remains the company's only hotel, but Burton said they have eight other agreements under contract and 14 going through legal reviews.

The hotels are aimed at business travelers, which boosts the slower weekday traffic at golf courses. Only 8 to 11 percent of guests actually play during their stay, Burton said, but that can add a couple of thousand rounds of golf or more at a course over a year.

The course also benefits from the limited services offered by the hotel, with most of the food and beverages being handled by the clubhouse, which guests can bill to their rooms, Burton said.

The hotels also go after conferences, weddings and banquets. The existing hotel was full 41 weekends last year and had 79 wedding receptions, Burton said.

Wedding receptions and other meetings are held at Coralville's Brown Deer Golf Club.

Coralville is attractive to the company because of its proximity to the University of Iowa, he said. They also look for health care and retail centers, and the Iowa City-Coralville area has three hospitals and Coral Ridge Mall.

The proposed agreement gives Fairway Suites one year to explore the plan and complete the rezoning and platting requirements. Burton said they hope to begin construction before the ground freezes and have the hotel open next summer.

Fairway Suites would pay the city $200,000 as rent during the construction period, according to a copy of the proposed agreement. The city also would get $1 per occupied room a night for the 99-year term of the lease.

A local franchisee, investors and Fairway Suites would share ownership of the hotel, Burton said. There have been no discussions about the city taking an ownership stake, he said.

He estimated the cost of the project at $8.5 million to $12 million, depending on the brand of the hotel.

Coralville city officials were not immediately available for comment.