UF’s Board of Trustees approved a beef research organization and the sale of the Hilton UF Conference Center hotel at a meeting Tuesday.
The board unanimously approved the formation of the Cattle Enhancement Board to receive up to $2 million to go toward research in the cattle industry.
The board also unanimously approved the sale of the Hilton located on Southwest 34th Street. The Xenia Hospitality Group currently owns it and will sell it to the Arden Group.
The land the hotel is built on is owned by the state and leased to UF, which subleases the property to Xena. The sale will not close the hotel, said Charlie Lane, UF’s senior vice president and chief operating officer. The change in management at the hotel will hopefully bring about needed renovations.
“UF would like to have a quality hotel and conference center in Gainesville that serves the university’s needs, many of which revolve around our ability to recruit first-class faculty and staff and to host first-rate events,” he said.
He said Hilton is requiring the new management, Arden, to renovate the hotel. Improvements for the complex could possibly include renovations on the more than 200 beds available, the restaurant and the conference center.
The sale of the center to Arden will go through Thursday, Lane said. He said Arden might see the purchase of the hotel as a good investment.
“This was one particular property that (Xenia) would consider probably not a primary market for them, and it probably wasn’t consistent with some of the other holdings that they had,” he said.
The Cattle Enhancement Board will be a nonprofit organization affiliated with UF, said Janine Sikes, the university’s spokeswoman.
Funding for the organization will be provided by the Florida Legislature, the cattle industry and possibly private donors, she said.
The board needed to approve the organization before any money could be received.
“The funding needed a place to go,” Sikes said.
Jack Payne, UF’s senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources, supported forming the organization.
He said money from outside groups would benefit research more than the current method of funding, which requires money to go through the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
“The money has to be spent all in the calendar year, which prohibits the necessary longer-term research projects that the cattlemen need for the industry,” Payne said.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @k_newberg.
