MIDLAND, Texas — ^ quote from Rachel Overman, COO for Insignia Hospitality Group.
Standing room only-that was the scene at the Midland city council meeting the morning of December 10.
Everyone showed up to hear the decision Midland has been waiting to hear about for nearly 10 years concerning a downtown hotel.
The council voted to pass the hotel project four to two, so Midway's final drawings and financial documents will be drawn up and signed.
However, this decision was met with lots of opposition from the public.
Not including the hotel company Midway and the Midland Development Corporation, only one person spoke to support the hotel.
"It's gonna be great for travelers coming here. They're spending dollars in our town and I think it's also going to be great for the citizens, said Chris Ginsbach.
"They can have another destination place to come downtown and spend a few hours at the park, at the convention center, at events that are going on cause we don't have anything. We don't have a place like that right now."
However, some people have a problem with the large price tag, saying there were cheaper options out there.
Local entity Insignia Hospitality spoke with MDC about three to four times, but wasn't selected for the project.
"I think it's very disturbing that we're considering giving 30 million dollars of incentive money to have somebody come in from outside and build something here," said Rachel Overman, COO of Insignia.
Overman feels they were jipped by the city and could actually provide a high-end hotel for a little over half of Midway's price tag.
"We are based here so we know how business operates, how things are run in Midland. We do have Houston hotels as well and understand there is a very different way of doing business in Midland versus Houston," Overman said.
But others pointed out Midway's vetting process has taken 2 years, and MDC says they've done thorough research.
"This project has been vetted for many many years, so this is not something that just came up this week or this month or this year or even with this city council," Ginsbach said.
But everything is in the City of Midland's hands now.