Clear Lake council approves pre-development agreement with potential Surf District hotel developer

CLEAR LAKE — The Clear Lake City Council last night approved a pre-development agreement for the hotel that’s proposed to be part of the Surf District project. 

While the state grant for the Destination Iowa Creative Placemaking Grant did not include funding for a hotel, the concept for a reimagined “Oaks Hotel” was also presented.

Acting City Administrator Jacob Widman says Minnesota-based MarketPointe Incorporated is looking at potentially developing the hotel concept and the pre-development agreement allows them to explore whether the project should proceed. “Some of the functions include pursuing and securing an optimum site for the new hotel, prospecting and securing local and regional investors, discussions with local or regional lenders on the appetite for lending for the new hotel, and the ultimately working with community personnel in determining the preliminary approvals for moving the project forward.”

Widman says MarketPointe can do their due diligence on the concept of the hotel.  “It doesn’t commit the city to working with this developer. I think the idea would be if it works for them and it works for the city, then we would enter into a development agreement at the end of this, but there’s a lot of steps between now and then, and this just allows them to do their due diligence and work through it.”

The agreement says the exploration of the hotel project will commence immediately and be completed no later than April 1st of this year. The council unanimously approved the agreement.