new hotel-conference center

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The Story So Far: Part 2 – Hotel Proves Highly Embarrassing for UCLA

Byuclafaculty

My previous blog entry noted the objections to the UCLA hotel/conference center raised by non-UCLA participants at the public comments session this morning. As in the case of the morning session, I was unable to record the afternoon session of the Regents’ Committee on Building and Grounds.  However, I did hear most of it. There were presentations by Gene Block and Steve Olsen which led to a very skeptical set of questions by the Regents on the Committee.  They questioned all of the items raised by the morning witnesses. Ultimately, the Committee was not willing to conclude its session with…

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The Story So Far: Tuition, Ballot Propositions, Hotel, Japanese Garden, Pepper Spray, and More

Byuclafaculty

Yours truly tried to get a decent recording of the Regents public comment session this morning. Unfortunately, an aging office computer produced such a low quality recording that I will summarize below in writing: Prior to the public comment period, President Yudof said he intended to endorse the governor’s tax initiative and would ask the Regents to do so.  After the comment period, Academic Council chair Bob Anderson noted that faculty members are voting on a memorial to the Regents asking them to endorse ballot propositions that provide funding to the university.  (The memorial does not designate a particular initiative.)…

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Sneak Preview

Byuclafaculty

Later this morning at the UC Regents meeting, there will be a public comments period.  There may be oral testimony by persons opposed to the latest version of the UCLA hotel/conference center project. Below you can find a link to the written testimony of “Save Westwood Village,” a group of neighbors and local business & hotel owners.  Although the group may have interests regarding this project different from those of the faculty, it will be necessary for any Academic Senate review of this project to respond to the objections raised.  The faculty interest essentially is that the project not end…

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Can We Have a Room With an (Alternative) View at the Hotel Dispute?

Byuclafaculty

An article by Erica Perez appears today in the online California Watch news service on the proposed UCLA hotel/conference center that is up for consideration by the Regents next week.  Excerpts: The Luskin Center relies in the first year on a cushion of surplus revenue from the UCLA Lake Arrowhead Conference Center and the UCLA Guest House – both of which run healthy surpluses. … …”It’s disingenuous in the sense that this is a project that’s supposed to take care of itself,” said Daniel J.B. Mitchell, professor emeritus at the UCLA Anderson School of Management and School of Public Affairs,…

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The UC-Davis Pepper Spray Incident and the UCLA Hotel Seem to Raise the Same Question

Byuclafaculty

The pepper spray incident at UC-Davis and the proposed UCLA hotel/conference center matter seem to raise a common question: Do we have a problem – systemwide and on campus – about responding to Public Records Act requests?   An earlier post noted the long delay in providing the UCLA Faculty Association with the business plan for the proposed hotel/conference center.  The Faculty Association still has not received the consulting report that was supposed to be the back-up support for the plan.  Presumably, that report was available well before the Feb. 9, 2012 date the plan itself was approved. And we did…

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The Hotel Blender

Byuclafaculty

The business plan for the hotel/conference center is now on the Regents’ website.  In essence, the plan is made to work by blending the hotel/ conference center with the guest house and the Lake Arrowhead conference center. In effect, the operating surplus of these other operations is used to cover the initial shortfall relative to debt service in the proposed hotel/conference center. The new hotel runs at 60% capacity initially and rises to 70% by year 3 of its operations although it cannot take commercial business due to its tax exempt financing.  Blending the hotel with the other operations –…

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Somewhere Inside Murphy Hall Is the Hotel Business Plan…

Byuclafaculty

But although it has been apparently sent to the Regents for approval, requests for it remain unanswered and unfulfilled. Today, the UCLA Faculty Association renewed its request from last November: Text of email sent to Aimee M. Felker Director Records Management & Information Practices, Corporate Financial Services3-18-12 Dear Ms Felker, Lots of time has passed, and you have not responded to the request of the FA for a public document, the business plan for the proposed UCLA Conference and Guest Center. I have offered several times since your communication to pick up the document in your office, but you have…

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If you’re telling them about the UCLA hotel, could you let us in on the secret?

Byuclafaculty

The Regents agenda is now posted and includes the proposed UCLA hotel/conference center.  But no plan is attached to the agenda item.  No plan has yet been received by the UCLA Faculty Association although a public documents request was filed by the Association and others some time back. Below is the agenda of the Regents’ Committee on Grounds and Buildings which contains the so-far-secret plan.  The full Regents’ agenda is also reproduced below. ==== NOTICE OF MEETING The Regents of the University of California COMMITTEE ON GROUNDS AND BUILDINGS Date:  March 28, 2012 Time: 2:15 p.m. Location: UCSF–Mission Bay Community…

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Westside Hotel Market Expanding

Byuclafaculty

We still don’t have a business plan for the proposed UCLA hotel/conference center.  But it is important to note that as the economy recovers, private hotel developers may add competitive capacity to the Westside market.  For example, a 285-room hotel is planned in Santa Monica at 7th Street and Wilshire, essentially a conversion of an existing office building. Details of the project are at:http://www01.smgov.net/cityclerk/council/agendas/2012/20120320/s2012%200320%207-A.pdf http://www01.smgov.net/cityclerk/council/agendas/2012/20120320/s2012%200320%207-A-1.pdf http://www01.smgov.net/cityclerk/council/agendas/2012/20120320/s2012%200320%207-A-2.pdf Some guests at UCLA events might even prefer to stay in Santa Monica:[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6CtZ4VkvgQ&w=320&h=195]

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Building Boom Raises Questions, Especially for Proposed UCLA Hotel/Conference Center

Byuclafaculty

Every time a construction crane is sighted on the UCLA campus, questions are raised such as those appearing in an article in today’s San Francisco Chronicle.  (See the italicized text below.)  All the more reason why – if there is a sound financial plan for the proposed UCLA hotel/ conference center – it needs to be released now. California has slashed public university budgets, yet construction is booming at campuses statewide.  The University of California system has $8.9 billion in building projects under way at its 10 campuses and five medical centers, including about $2 billion at UCSF, which is…