A plan by the University of California, Los Angeles to build a conference center and 250-room hotel in the heart of its campus went before the UC regents during a board meeting Thursday night.
Approval seemed likely, according to a report from the Los Angeles Times, after the plans received a favorable response on Tuesday from the regents’ grounds and buildings committee.
Construction would start next summer with completion set for 2016.
The project has received opposition from other area hoteliers, who are worried about competition from the planned hotel, and faculty members who opposed the project’s original site on the eastern edge of the campus.
Earlier this year, some regents questioned the entire idea and pressed UCLA to investigate buying an existing hotel instead. The university prevailed after showing that local hotels could not accommodate the conferences it hopes to host.
Revenues from room rentals and dining are supposed to support payments on the $112 million bond financing. The project will also use a $40 million gift from a UCLA alumnus for construction and $10 million for a programming endowment.
