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Developers ask to rebuild hotel at 5000 W. John Carpenter Freeway; staff finds no hardship for remaining variances
Summary
The property owner seeks to rebuild a hotel (Hilton 'Live Smart Studios') at 5000 W. John Carpenter Freeway with variances for rooms, meeting-space size and a parking setback; staff noted several prior variances were removed but the project still falls short of some hotel development standards and council previously denied an earlier version.
Gina Costanza Grant of the Planning Department presented a zoning/variance package for 5000 West John Carpenter Freeway where a 1997 hotel burned in 2022. The owner seeks a new extended-stay Hilton 'Live Smart Studios' product, rezone to allow a hotel under SP1 CP and variances to hotel-development standards (front building setback, lot coverage, maximum stories/height and parking setback adjacent to State Highway 114).
Staff reported the applicant eliminated four of the variances that had drawn council concern in December 2024 but still requests three remaining variances tied to room count, meeting-space square footage (about 3,800 sq ft short of the current UDC requirement) and a parking setback. The current proposal calls for roughly 130 rooms and a four-story design; staff noted the project increased room count since the prior submission but remains below the 200-room guideline in the hotel standards.
Commissioners and staff discussed whether the tight site could accommodate the 200-room target (podium or structured parking would likely be necessary), council’s earlier emphasis on keeping the 200-room bar high, and whether the applicant could rebuild under grandfathered site-plan allowances rather than seeking the variances. Staff said the applicant could build to the prior approved site plan if they maintained the original configuration, but the applicant is pursuing a new footprint and design requiring the current review.
A companion case was determined moot and requires no action; the commission did not take a final zoning action on the hotel during the work session.
