Lawrence city commissioners brought the Oread Inn one step closer to reality last night.

Commissioners voted unanimously to put together a plan to use the increase in tax revenue — new money the hotel brings to the city — to reimburse some of the estimated $11 million that project developers are required to invest into public improvements.

In order for the Oread Inn to go up at the north entrance of campus, the project developers, led by the Gene Fritzel Construction Company, must invest a projected $5 million into basic improvements of the area and $6 million into a new underground parking garage.

Developers agreed to both of these as long as the city would reimburse $5 to $7.1 million of the project using the increase in tax revenue the hotel is expected to bring to the city.

Matthew Gough, an attorney representing the Oread project’s interests, said the specifics of the reimbursement plan would be decided at a future meeting.

“The only thing that’s official tonight is that the city has adopted an ordinance to form the tax incremental financing of the project,” Gough said.

Without the commission’s decision to look into some sort of reimbursement plan, project developers wouldn’t be able to afford the $37 million project, and the Oread Inn would have become a dead issue, said David Longhurst, a representative of the development company.

All five commissioners also voted to rezone the area for planned commercial development and voted in favor of the demolition of the structures located at 1140, 1142 and 1144 on Indiana Street and 618, 619 and 620 on West 12th Street.

While the meeting included minor discussions about the number of floors the hotel should be allowed to have, no development plans for the project were officially approved.

City manager Dave Corliss said the public would get a chance to comment on the official redevelopment plan in a future meeting.

The main topic was the tax incremental financing of the project.

Dissenters outnumbered supporters at the meeting as some Lawrence residents voiced concern about how the project would be financed.

Allen Ford, professor of business at the University of Kansas, said he was concerned that people associated with the Oread project were assuming numbers they couldn’t predict.

“One of the biggest assumptions is that this project will experience a 1 percent growth every year,” Ford said. “I don’t think anyone would make an investment in a restaurant, hotel or anything that assumes that it will have a 1 percent growth every year.”

Most of the Lawrence residents who voiced support for the proposal, such as Kirk Deplore, pointed to the 120 jobs that people associated with the project said the Oread hotel would offer.

“I believe this to be a valuable project that creates a very healthy payroll,” said Deplore. “And what the heck, it’s going to enhance the neighborhood for free.”

— Edited by Patrick De Oliveira