CIB selects Dora for Bloomington Convention Center hotel, declines delay for potential land-swap

Dora Hospitality was selected Wednesday (July 15) to build the Bloomington convention center’s host hotel on land south of the convention center, which includes the Seminary Pointe block.

On a unanimous vote at its Wednesday meeting, Monroe County’s capital improvement board (CIB) chose Dora over MHG Hotels.

The decision means the CIB will not wait for the Bloomington redevelopment commission’s College Square public offering of the College Square site to conclude next Monday (July 20) before choosing a hotel developer. That’s a delay that Bloomington’s mayor, city councilmembers and housing advocates had requested in hopes of preserving the Seminary Pointe apartments and commercial spaces.

The CIB directed its attorney, Jim Whitlatch, to begin talks with Dora and bring a definitive hotel agreement back to the board. The selection is based on Dora’s July 8 proposal, which calls for a 200-room full-service hotel with a restaurant and bar, fitness center, meeting space and about 200 parking spaces. Dora’s proposal and the competing MHG plan were presented to the full CIB a week ago.

In the meantime, a hotel evaluation group evaluated the two proposals and on Wednesday made a unanimous recommendation for Dora Hospitality. The evaluation group included CIB members Jay Baer, Doug Bruce and CIB president John Whikehart; Mike Campbell of the Convention and Visitors Commission; and Mike McAfee of Visit Bloomington.

Given a chance to speak immediately after the vote, Dora development partner Russ Louderback expressed relief at prevailing in the second CIB selection process involving the company. “I just want to say how appreciative we are that we didn’t have to go through this a third time,” Louderback said.

Louderback said Dora would stand by its commitments, develop a sustainable project, use Bloomington-based Weddle Brothers Construction and complete at least 70% of the work with union labor.

In his prepared remarks, Whikehart said Dora met the board’s basic requirements and exceeded its expectations with an architectural design tailored to Bloomington and a plan that provides dedicated parking.

Whikehart also read from a follow-up email sent by Vince Dora and Louderback after the company’s July 8 interview.

“The south parcels are our preferred site for the Convention Center Hotel, and we are fully committed to building there,” the email said.

[Bloomington Convention Center Timeline]

Some historical background

The email described the southern location as something Dora had been planning around—not a fallback after negotiations failed over College Square, which is the former Bunger & Robertson property at the southwest corner of Fourth Street and College Avenue. It now consists of a vacant building and a parking lot that is being used as a materials staging area for the convention center expansion project, which is well along on the south side of 3rd Street between College Avenue and Walnut Street.

The CIB first chose Dora over MHG and Garfield Public/Private as its preferred hotel developer in October 2024, setting off more than a year of negotiations between Dora and the RDC over College Square.

After those negotiations failed to produce a land deal, the CIB ended that effort with Dora in February 2026.

Land transfers from the city and county subsequently gave the CIB control of some acreage south of the convention center, including Seminary Pointe. The CIB issued a new request for hotel proposals covering that property on April 24.

CIB member Doug Bruce defended moving ahead after what he described as more than 18 months of unsuccessful efforts to secure College Square for a hotel. He noted that the CIB had asked the RDC to pause its own public offering for 30 days so the two boards could discuss a land swap, but the RDC declined.

“Time is of the essence, so the CIB reissued a second RFP for the parcels that the CIB actually owns,” Bruce said.

Bruce said Dora’s plan uses three of the CIB’s southern parcels, leaving other land available for possible future development.

CIB member Jay Baer acknowledged that the mayor, city council and other community members had asked the board to continue pursuing a swap of CIB-owned land for College Square. But Baer said that request had been outweighed by Dora’s conclusion that the southern location was preferable. He put it like this: “Our preferred hotelier has suggested that the south parcel is actually a preferred site for the hotel as opposed to the north site [College Square], which sort of invalidates any need from our perspective to do a land swap.”

Baer pointed to the site’s proximity to the existing convention center, which meant hotel guests would not need to cross a busy intersection, and its location next to the existing Courtyard by Marriott.

Baer also addressed a “Homes, not hotels” sign displayed by one of the housing advocates in the meeting room. “I think that’s a false equivalency. Our role is not to solve affordable housing for Bloomington or Monroe County. We certainly believe that affordable housing is a massive priority in this community, but there are many other places and, frankly, more appropriate bodies to solve that problem than the CIB,” Baer said.

Response from housing advocates

The CIB’s vote disappointed housing advocates in attendance, who had asked the CIB to hold off on choosing a hotelier and submit a land-swap proposal through the RDC’s public offering, which closes July 20.

Under the Bloomington Homes for All proposal, the CIB would receive College Square for the hotel, while the city would receive Seminary Pointe and transfer it to Avalon Community Land Trust for preservation as affordable housing and commercial space. The group has outlined a cooperative ownership and renovation plan that called for about $1.6 million in core rehabilitation work.

The land-swap concept also received an 8–0 endorsement from the Bloomington city council on June 3.

At least 60 people rallied at city hall on July 6 to urge the CIB and RDC to negotiate.

On Wednesday, the CIB chose a hotel proposal that its members said no longer requires College Square. So the board did not submit a land-swap offer or agree to delay the hotel selection.

From the public mic, Bloomington Homes for All organizer Bryce Greene urged the board not to abandon the swap just because Dora intends to build on the southern parcels. “We still believe that the land swap is still something worth pursuing,” Greene said.

Matthew Joseph focused on the uncertainty facing Seminary Pointe’s residential and commercial tenants. “What is the plan for Seminary Pointe?” Joseph asked.

Amber Corr said the block’s low rents are increasingly rare in Bloomington and tied the housing directly to the workers who would staff the convention center and hotel. “It’s very sad that demolition is scheduled for Seminary Pointe,” Core said.

Sarah Woolford, housing solutions director for Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County, said that preserving Seminary Pointe and building the hotel did not have to be competing goals. “The housing crisis cannot afford the loss of 29 units,” Wolford said.

Audrey Smith told the CIB that it still has an opportunity to preserve the property, even after choosing Dora. “You just have to get the ball rolling with a proposal to the RDC,” Smith said.

The CIB is continuing preparations for demolition of the Seminary Pointe buildings, including environmental reviews and preparation of demolition documents.

The board’s leases with most residential and commercial tenants expire Aug. 31, and demolition could begin as early as Oct. 1. The Bloomington historic preservation commission removed a key obstacle June 25 when it released demolition delays for two historically contributing buildings on separate 4–2 votes.