Work on hotel project continues in background

Working in economic development I am often working on projects that develop and carry out over the course of several years.  For example, right now I am working on finishing up the initial development project at Mission Critical, south of Aurora, which was a project that started in 2022.  
From start to finish, it has taken almost four years to bring that project idea to reality. To an individual tracking development through articles in the Aurora News-Register, it may seem like some projects have been forgotten due to the time between updates, but it is likely that those projects are still working in the background. 
Attracting a new hotel is one of those projects that is moving forward at a gradual pace. For this project we initially met with a hotel prospect in the fall of 2023. In 2024, the Aurora Development Corporation invested funds into a hotel feasibility study. The completed study was ultimately presented and reported to the public in the fall of 2024 as we began looking for an investor group to take the project forward.  
While there hasn’t been robust interest from local investors, we have continued conversations with a few investors based in Nebraska. Additionally, we are narrowing in on a location on the west end of Aurora for the potential development. At this point we have reached the stage where we are working through the numbers to understand what it will take to make this a viable project.  
We are exploring some new funding mechanisms that haven’t been used much, or at all, in Aurora before. Due to this, we are taking some extra time to understand the details of these funding tools and work through some due diligence efforts on behalf of the community. Hopefully one day soon, we will be able to announce this project, but until then, know we are still working in the background.  
 KELSEY BERGEN serves as executive director of the Aurora Development Corporation. She can be reached at kelsey@growaurora.com