UMhotel project followed all procurement laws

In his recent op-ed (“Maryland agencies should bid their projects fairly,” April 20), John Boardman misstates several facts regarding the University of Maryland. Not only does he confuse the University System of Maryland (USM) with our flagship institution (the budget figures he cites are USM numbers, not university figures), he also makes inaccurate statements about our procurement procedures.

One of the few things Mr. Boardman gets right is that in April 2013, the University of Maryland put out a request for developers interested in building a hotel and conference center on university property. Our request for expressions of interest contained a provision that solicited “market-based” reactions to the proposed site but also welcomed “an alternate plan.” The request stipulated that the university was free to pursue these alternatives if they supported our goal of “bringing activities closer to Baltimore Avenue and creating a strong intersection with the neighboring community.”

Southern Management Corp., developer of the successful Hotel at Arundel Preserve, submitted a proposal to build a four-star hotel on an alternate campus site. It is important to note that SMC’s bid was the only proposal that did not require a financial subsidy from the university. Partnering with SMC will thus save millions in state dollars. In full compliance of our procurement procedures, we selected SMC to build a university-affiliated hotel and conference center.

Last March, we presented the project to the Board of Public Works for approval. All of our procurement procedures were certified by the secretary of the board, and the project was unanimously approved by thenGov. Martin O’Malley, Comptroller Peter Franchot and Treasurer Nancy Kopp.

Mr. Boardman, of course, knows all of this already. He testified at the BPW meeting last year, opposing this project. His claims were baseless then, and they remain baseless today.

The Hotel at the University of Maryland is a model of a public-private partnership. The $146 million project, financed entirely by SMC, will create 1,637 jobs, spark $62 million in economic activity annually, and generate over $6 million in new state and local tax revenues during construction (and over $4 million annually once operational).

The hotel is the centerpiece of an ongoing economic transformation here in College Park. This project has already sparked interest from other developers. With so much private-sector activity, we believe that in a few short years, our vision to transform College Park into a premier college town will be realized.

Carlo Colella, College Park The writer is vice president of administration and finance at the University of Maryland.