Florida International University has proposed to build a $59 million hotel and conference center on it main campus in Miami.
The project is pending approval by the Florida Board of Governors, the policy-making body for state universities.
The FIU project would include construction of a seven-story, 150-room hotel together with conference facilities, a restaurant, swimming pool and gym.
The 15-month construction project is scheduled to start in March 2018 on the northwest corner of the university’s main campus.
Few of the many Miami-area hotels are located near the main campus of FIU on Southwest Eighth Street near Florida’s Turnpike.
Ken Jessel, senior vice president for finance and administration at FIU, told the Miami Herald that many of the university’s visitors stay at hotels in Coral Gables.
FIU has 55,000 students, and its enrollment makes it one of the five largest universities in the nation. But studies done on behalf of FIU have raised doubts about the feasibility of an on-campus hotel.
Some members of the Florida Board of Governors have raised questions about FIU’s proposed hotel and conference center because it’s not directly related to research or education. [Miami Herald] – Mike Seemuth