AURORA, Colorado—The Colorado attorney general on Thursday struck down a petition filed by 20 area hotel owners and two associations to halt a proposed Gaylord project in Aurora, Colorado, which is to the immediate east of Denver.
In a letter sent 19 July to the Colorado Economic Development Commission, the petitioners alleged that several material changes had occurred in the nature and scope of the project—namely, that original developer and operator Gaylord Entertainment Company reorganized itself as Ryman Hospitality Properties and sold the Gaylord brand and management platform to Marriott International.
The petitioners also alleged they would be injured by “significant competitive issues” that likely would arise if the project moved forward, which “could have a material effect on … the relevant market for hotel rooms and meetings/convention space.”
Among the petitioners were six Marriott-branded hotels, including the:
- Courtyard by Marriott Denver Downtown;
- Denver Marriott City Center;
- JW Marriott Denver;
- Renaissance Denver Hotel;
- Residence Inn by Marriott Denver Downtown; and
- The Ritz-Carlton Denver.
There are four Gaylord hotels in operation throughout the United States. They range in size from 1,406 rooms at the Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center in Kissimmee, Florida, to 2,881 rooms at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
The largest hotel in the greater Denver area, by comparison, is the 1,231-room Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel.
In a letter of response, LeeAnn Morrill, first assistant attorney general writing on behalf of Attorney General John W. Suthers, rejected the petitioners claim because it missed the 35-day period following the 18 May 2012 approval of the project to institute an action for judicial review.
“For these reasons, your clients’ petition for reconsideration of the Commission’s approval of the Aurora Application is untimely and, therefore, improper under Colorado law,” the letter states.
James M. Lyons of law firm Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons LLP, who sent the petition on behalf of the petitioners, said in an email, “We will consider judicial review.”
Representative from Marriott and Gaylord declined to provide comment when the petition originally was filed 19 July. The individual petitioners either declined to provide comment or did not return requests for comment.
A representative from Gaylord did not respond to request for comment prior to deadline after the petition was struck down.
There were four hotels in the pipeline for Aurora as of 31 July, including the proposed Gaylord project, according to STR, parent company of Hotel News Now. There were 16 hotels in the pipeline in Denver.