Digest Digest (February 25, 2004)

Palo Alto still in Hyatt's picture

As Palo Alto officials wonder what's happening with Hyatt's plans to rebuild its aging hotel, company representatives indicated they haven't thrown in the towel yet.

Despite considerable speculation that Hyatt would drop plans to refurbish the former Rickeys Garden Hotel and relocate to a Stanford-owned site on Sand Hill Road, the hotel said it still has plans for the current site.

"They didn't declare their plans but they are still interested in doing a hotel," said Steve Emslie, Palo Alto's planning director. "But it may be a smaller hotel and less of a conference center."

Another party involved in the rumor, Stanford University, also reported no substantive contact with the hotel. Bill Phillips, the managing director for real estate for the Stanford Management Co. said, "There has been no contact at all, at this point," other than a brief discussion several weeks ago, said Bill Phillips, managing director for real estate for the Stanford Management Co.

Both Phillips and Menlo Park City Manager David Boesch have said they would welcome an offer from Hyatt to build a hotel on a 21-acre vacant site on Sand Hill Road next to I-280.

Before the speculation surfaced, Hyatt intended to replace the aging Hyatt Rickey's with a 320-room hotel and up to 302 housing units. The housing part of the plan riled nearby neighborhood groups, with 10 such associations opposing the plan.

"I'm looking forward to hearing what their plans are," said Deborah Ju, president of the Charleston Meadows Association

-- Don Kazak

E-mail a friend a link to this story.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]