Feb. 5 meeting to review Dora ‘south option’ convention center hotel; mayor’s news release leaves CIB head ‘baffled’

The Monroe County capital improvement board (CIB) will convene a special meeting on Feb. 5 at 3 p.m. to evaluate a proposal from Dora Hospitality to develop a convention center host hotel—on real estate south of the current convention center building. The land currently serves as surface parking.

The step came after Dora representatives Vince Dora and Russ Louderback addressed the CIB’s Wednesday (Jan. 21) meeting to present what CIB president John Whikehart described as “significant movement” since discussions on the southern parcels started in late December. The CIB is overseeing the construction of the convention center expansion, which is well underway south of 3rd Street, between College and Walnut

The CIB meeting on Dec. 17, 2025 was the deadline by which Dora was supposed to report progress towards a deal with Bloomington’s redevelopment commission on the former Bunger & Robertson site, north of the current convention center, or else face the prospect that the CIB would issue a new RFP (request for proposals) for a host hotel developer.

At the Dec. 17 meeting, Dora addressed the board with no report of a deal on the former Bunger & Robertson (College Square) property. But he bought some time with an indication that he thought a deal could get done on one of the other properties that was available for development, the one south of the current convention center. The way it was left at the end of 2025 was: Dora would either bring a concrete proposal to the Jan. 21 meeting, or the CIB would issue a new RFP.

Dora’s proposed LOI (letter of intent), which the CIB will be considering on Feb. 5, was forwarded to the CIB’s attorney only shortly before Thursday’s meeting. Whikehart told The B Square after the meeting that he had not yet had a chance to go through the LOI line by line.

Sowing some confusion late afternoon on Wednesday was a related news release from Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson’s office that was met with a sharp rebuke from Whikehart, which identified factual inaccuracies that left him “baffled.” One of them was the claim that the CIB’s meeting earlier in the day had included “action by the Capital Improvement Board (CIB) to discontinue negotiations with Dora Hospitality.”

It was not the CIB that was in negotiations with Dora on the former Bunger & Robertson property, but rather Bloomington’s RDC, the owner of the property. And at its meeting, the CIB decided to set the Feb. 5 meeting in order, for now, to keep Dora as preferred hotelier for the project—with a different property targeted for host hotel development, namely the one south of the current facility. So Whikehart’s point in his response was that the CIB was not in any way discontinuing its relationship with Dora.

The southern property is owned by the city of Bloomington, and had been made available by the city for the convention center expansion project at no cost, in contrast to the former Bunger & Robertson property for which the city wanted the RDC to recoup its roughly $7 million purchase price.

Another claim in the mayor’s news release that was disputed by Whikehart was a direct quote from Thomson: “After months of good-faith efforts to make this site work for a convention center host hotel contractor, it has become clear to all parties—including our Capital Improvement Board leadership—that this property is not the right fit for that purpose.”

While it’s true that the real estate, at this point, is almost certainly not politically viable as a hotel site, there’s not a consensus that the physical constraints, design feasibility, access, utilities or other locational attributes of the property are the problem. What makes the site unviable is the RDC’s reluctance—especially by the two members appointed by the city council—to provide the public subsidy that Dora has requested for a host hotel, in the form of a donation of the Bunger & Robertson property.

Whikehart’s response to the mayor’s news release put it like this, “That statement is in direct opposition to CIB positions publicly taken, as well as my own statements at three recent RDC meetings. Our board and leadership have been explicitly and repeatedly clear that the former Bunger & Robertson property is the absolute best site for that purpose.”

At the Dec. 17 CIB meeting, which was his final one before he took the job of city controller in Thomson’s administration, former CIB member Geoff McKim stated: “I do think that there is a community benefit to having the hotel at the Bunger & Robertson property versus the other locations. Is it worth $7 million? I don’t know.” McKim continued, “It’s certainly not worth zero.”

It was in October 2024 when the CIB selected Dora Hospitality as its preferred hotelier. At that point, Dora started negotiating with Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC), the owner of the property, for the real estate at College Square at Fourth Street and College Avenue, which is commonly known as the former Bunger & Robertson lot.

What is the proposal from Dora to be considered Feb. 5?

Dora’s concept envisions a five-story, 200-room, upscale full-service hotel on the south properties directly south of the existing convention center, currently owned by the city of Bloomington. The project would include: a full-service restaurant and bar fronting College Avenue; standard host-hotel amenities such as a fitness center; coordination with the convention center on group bookings and blackout dates.

Vince Dora said at Wednesday’s CIB meeting that the development team is asking for the land to be donated to the project—consistent with prior statements from the CIB that the south parcels could be made available for a convention-center hotel—and stated he is not seeking additional public subsidy.

Whikehart drew out the lack of any additional requested subsidy. “I didn’t see at first glance—are you bringing forward to us a proposal that says it is not your intention to ask for public subsidies?” Whikehart asked. Dora confirmed: “That is correct.”

Timeline: 2028

Participating at the meeting through a remote electronic connection, Louderback outlined a possible schedule: 60–90 days of due diligence on the site (including geotechnical and other engineering work); 6–7 months to complete and finalize architectural drawings and about two years for construction after closing on the land. Vince Dora told The B Square after Thursday’s meeting he thinks a shorter timeline is possible, pegging a possible hotel opening date of spring, or early summer 2028—but that’s if everything goes smoothly according to plan.

Part of that plan is the land south of the convention center, where Dora would like to build the hotel. Whikehart told the board he has already formally requested that the city of Bloomington proceed with transferring the south parcels to the CIB, citing: the interlocal agreement that established the CIB, which contemplates asset transfers for the convention center project; and a May 2024 letter from Bloomington corporation counsel Margie Rice to the CIB that identified specific south parcels as available for transfer to the CIB for the convention center project.

CIB members also raised parking and operational integration as key issues. The guests at the existing hotel immediately to the south of the convention center, Courtyard by Marriott, currently rely on parking spaces that would disappear if a hotel is built there.

The CIB set a special meeting on Feb. 5 at 3 p.m. to consider the Dora proposal for the southern property.

It’s not a slam dunk that the CIB will approve the LOI (letter of intent). At its Wednesday meeting, the CIB also voted to approve—but not yet issue—a revised RFP (request for proposals) for a host hotel, establishing minimum requirements like 200 keys, full service, fitness center, bar, room-block agreements, and dedicated marketing staff.

A key difference between the revised RFP and the one that was initially issued in 2024 is that the former Bunger & Robertson property is not included as a possible site. That revised RFP will be held in reserve and could be issued later if needed, depending on the outcome of the Feb. 5 meeting.