Kevin Bartram, developer with the Bruhala team, and Mark Bjornstead, design/brand lead, presented a proposal that centers the convention facility in the Unicorn Park neighborhood on a 31‑acre infill site. "This site presents, you know, really an incredible opportunity for the city," Bartram said, noting the team’s plans for a 160‑room hotel attached to the convention center, adjacency to Bridal (a food and beverage complex), and integration into an evolving entertainment district.

The team described the proposal as a neighborhood redevelopment, not just a single building, and stressed the broader tax and development upside. Mark Bjornstead said the site could generate tax‑increment financing (TIF) revenue they estimated to be "75 to over a $100,000,000 over the life of that TIF," money the team framed as available to the city for future public objectives. The presenters argued that a centrally located convention center with a high concentration of local food, beverage and entertainment venues would increase spillover spending to downtown Fargo and strengthen the local hotel base.

Design and program: Rob Remark of JLG described the proposed layout as a convention center with an attached 160‑room hotel and hotel adjacency to Bridal (about 42 rooms nearby), yielding roughly 200 rooms in the immediate area; he also emphasized flexible meeting and ballroom layouts, natural light in breakout rooms, and a central courtyard for outdoor activations. The team proposed a phased approach with room for future expansion and emphasized that the site is already served by roads and utilities, which they described as “shovel ready.”

Management and finance: the team proposed a unified management model that would operate the convention center, hotel, and catering together to maximize booking flexibility and operational responsiveness. They said the developer/operator group would accept development and operational risk, which they argued would reduce the city’s operating subsidy needs and allow more public funds to go into building a larger, higher‑quality facility. The Bruhala team framed the plan as a private development with public benefits, asking the city to explore a TIF district and other financing tools to support site infrastructure and long‑term growth.

Site considerations and community fit: the Bruhala presenters argued the site’s central location, walkability and proximity to established local restaurants at Bridal would give it an experiential advantage with visitors. The team addressed a common concern about railroad noise and said design and orientation would buffer event and hotel spaces from rail impacts. The presenters described plans to preserve connectivity to downtown and to create activated public spaces along First Avenue.

What was not decided: the presentation delivered concept plans, tax‑generation estimates and a management approach; the committee did not take formal action and did not request immediate commitments for a particular financing instrument. Several committee members asked questions about drain easements on adjacent parcels, exact event capacity for spillover spaces such as Brewhalla, and site contamination checks; presenters said the site had undergone Phase I and II environmental testing and described the site as ready for development.

Ending note: the Bruhala team concluded by saying the project would not only build a convention facility but could catalyze broader neighborhood development; they offered to provide follow‑up materials if shortlisted for later rounds.