DELAWARE — Delaware City Council took another step Monday toward a highly anticipated downtown hotel project.
Council heard the first reading of an ordinance that would transfer a city-owned, 0.95-acre Spring Street property to the Delaware County Community Improvement Corporation (CIC) as part of the hotel’s development.
The proposed name of the project? Hotel Wesleyan, according to a November 2025 statement of qualifications from developer Westwood Collective.
Ohio Wesleyan University is a major partner in the project, with university-owned property proposed for the hotel’s parking deck and plans to incorporate OWU branding, students and programming into the development.
Ultimately, plans remain preliminary, and the hotel’s name, design and other details are all subject to change.
The city previously sought proposals from private developers to finance, construct and operate a downtown hotel with approximately 100 rooms and an attached parking facility with as many as 280 spaces.
Westwood Collective was selected through what the city described as a “competitive selection process.”
Council will hold a second reading and public hearing on the ordinance at its Sept. 28 meeting.
Unpacking Westwood Collective’s plan
Westwood Collective founder and CEO Andy Warnock has deep ties to both Delaware and Ohio Wesleyan.
“This — the repurposing of land partially owned by the City of Delaware and partially by Ohio Wesleyan University — is the legacy project I have worked my entire career for,” Warnock wrote in a Nov. 2025 letter to the city.
“I will forever be part Pacer and part Bishop; we’re ready to get to work.”
The proposal relies on property owned by both the city and OWU.
Delaware Economic Development Director Nic Langford said Monday that OWU’s board is actively discussing plans to use university-owned property adjacent to the city’s Spring Street site for the proposed parking deck.
The site currently includes property zoned Civic/Institutional District (C/I) and Neighborhood Mixed Commercial District (C-NX). City documents indicate the property would need to be rezoned as a planned unit development before the project could move forward.
Westwood’s 2025 qualifications document describes the project as a joint venture with OWU, and outlines several ways the university could be incorporated into the hotel.
- Fundraising: Westwood proposed tapping OWU’s alumni network for potential project investors.
- Branding: The hotel could incorporate OWU branding, names and imagery.
- Students: Westwood proposed exploring a hospitality certification through OWU, along with student jobs, internships and mentorship opportunities.
- Arts: The proposal envisions extending the university’s Ross Art Museum into gallery space at the hotel and placing a baby grand piano in the lobby for performing arts students.
- Athletics: A proposed fitness facility could incorporate Battling Bishops branding.
- Community space: Westwood envisions the lobby serving as a coffee shop, library, study area and meeting space for students, business travelers and local residents.
Westwood Collective’s qualifications statement indicates OWU raised $69.4 million from alumni last year.
“It is expected that this private project would need to raise just 21.6% of that figure,” the document states.
For those who don’t like to do the math, that’s a little less than $15 million.
The following photos are from Westwood Collective’s qualifications document that show their inspiration/vision board behind Hotel Wesleyan:
What’s being proposed for Hotel Wesleyan?
Westwood’s preliminary plans extend well beyond approximately 100 hotel rooms.
The proposal includes an “elevated dining experience” called Boulevard XIX, named in honor of Delaware native and 19th U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes.
The Paddock Lounge, meanwhile, is envisioned as a cocktail lounge between the hotel lobby and restaurant that would incorporate memorabilia from the Little Brown Jug.
The proposal also calls for a two-story parking deck with rooftop parking on property farther west along Spring Street. The ground level would provide public parking, while the second level would serve hotel guests and the rooftop would be reserved for OWU.
Westwood’s Nov. 2025 qualifications statement says OWU had verbally agreed to the proposed location of the parking deck.
Westwood also proposed installing solar panels on the hotel’s roof. The developer pointed to two of its projects in Hilliard that incorporated solar power.
But wait, there’s more.
Westwood said two potential retail tenants had already expressed interest in ground-floor storefronts along Spring Street.
One is Playa Bowls, a cafe specializing in acai and other fruit-based bowls, smoothies and juices. The other is Bishop’s Brew, described in the proposal as a student-run coffee shop developed in partnership with the Delaware Entrepreneurial Center and OWU’s Woltemade Center.
And all of that would constitute only Phase 1 of Westwood’s proposal.
“This is not a one-off project for the Westwood Collective; this is a keystone asset that will set the bar for all infill redevelopment in the city’s core,” Warnock wrote. “Frankly, we want Hotel Wesleyan to serve as a template for all future opportunities in Delaware’s downtown.
“This is the start of Westwood’s next chapter and is a culmination of 20+ years of preparation to return home with a town poised for its next renaissance.”
How would Hotel Wesleyan be financed?
In addition to potentially seeking investment from OWU alumni, Westwood outlined several financing tools and public incentives it anticipated could be used for the project.
Those possibilities, which have not been finalized, include:
- C-PACE financing: Westwood said the project would likely use Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy financing, which provides private, long-term financing for eligible energy efficiency, water conservation and renewable energy improvements.
- TIF or new community authority: Westwood proposed using tax increment financing or creating a new community authority to help finance the proposed 280-space parking deck. The developer said a bond issue would be required and that early discussions had taken place with Bricker Graydon Wyatt.
- 15-year, 100% tax abatement: Westwood proposed seeking the maximum available property tax abatement for the project. “This project would benefit from the maximum available abatement — ideally 15 years at 100% of improved value given the economic development and tourism benefit the hotel would bring to the city,” the qualifications statement reads.
Westwood’s proposal also connects the hotel to an existing OWU scholarship program.
According to the qualifications statement, OWU President Matt vandenBerg proposed directing bed-tax revenue generated by Hotel Wesleyan toward the Delaware County Promise.
The Delaware County Promise provides tuition-free education at OWU to qualifying Delaware County students. Students who live or attend high school in Delaware County, have at least a 3.5 GPA and come from families with an annual adjusted gross income of less than $100,000 can qualify for the program.
The scholarship covers tuition, while students remain responsible for room and board.
Why transfer the property?
The proposed transfer to the CIC is one step in eventually getting the city-owned property into the hands of a private developer.
The CIC serves as the city’s designated economic-development agency, allowing the city to transfer property to the CIC without a traditional competitive sale.
The CIC can then convey the property to the selected developer under an agreement establishing requirements for the project.
The city could also use the value of the Spring Street property as an incentive for the project. Its request for proposals lists “reduced or nominal land pricing” among the potential incentives that could be offered to the developer.
The proposed conveyance also includes protections allowing the city to reclaim the property from the CIC if the project does not move forward within certain deadlines.
The property would revert to the city if:
- A final building permit is not obtained and construction has not “materially commenced” within 24 months of the CIC receiving the deed.
- Construction of the hotel is not “substantially completed” within 60 months of the CIC receiving the deed.
There will be a staff presentation during council’s meeting on Sept. 28. City staff recommends approval of the ordinance during its second or third reading.
