Prospective out-of-state students and alumni returning for football games may have a new place to stay when they visit campus.

At a meeting last week, a city-organized committee recommended that a hotel be built in the space that is currently an empty lot next to the Ann Arbor District Library.

The committee reviewing the proposals for the space — comprised of four city employees and one citizen-at-large — recommended two proposals to the Ann Arbor City Council for further consideration. Both proposals include the construction of a hotel and conference center.

The city owns the 1.2-acre space, which formerly served as the library’s parking lot on South Fifth Avenue.

Ann Arbor City Councilmember Stephen Rapundalo (D–Ward 2), who is also the chairman of the committee, said his group focused on building proposals that wouldn’t tap into city funds.

“We don’t want to see a city dime go toward these projects,” he said.

Rapundalo said the city will face significant budget shortfalls in the coming years. He added that the two proposals his committee recommended would provide the city with financial return instead of costing it money.

Rapundalo said the three proposals that were rejected by the committee did not provide adequate cost estimates.

Two of these proposals called for “open spaces” on the site — parks that would have served as social gathering spots for city residents.

“While (the parks) are idyllic, the fact of the matter is that they do cost money,” Rapundalo said.

That money, he added, would have to come from the city.

“I don’t know why we’d want to add to the (financial) burden,” Rapundalo said.

The two proposals Rapundalo’s committee recommended each feature a combined hotel and conference center.

The first building proposal — the @ Hotel and Retail Center filed by Acquest Realty Advisors, Inc. — would involve the construction of a 190-room boutique-style hotel with 5,340 square feet of conference spaces.

The proposal said the hotel would be geared toward middle- to upper-class people between ages 34 and 54. The hotel also seeks to accommodate certain members of the University community like alumni, sports fans and prospective students. Acquest Realty Advisors projected that the structure would be ready to open by 2013.

The other proposal — the Ann Arbor Town Plaza Hotel & Conference Center — would feature a four-star luxury 150-room hotel with a 32,000 square-foot conference center, according to a building plan filed by Valiant Partners LLC.

Like the @ Hotel and Retail Center of the first proposal, the Ann Arbor Town Plaza would cater to a middle- and upper-class demographic. Valiant Partners estimated the plaza would be ready to open by spring 2013.

Both companies claim they’ll bring thousands of visitors to the city without relying on city funding, and create jobs for local residents.

Rapundalo said his committee will evaluate the two proposals when it reconvenes in early February.

At this point, Rapundalo said he’s leaning toward the Ann Arbor Town Plaza proposal, saying the plan “has a very low risk to the city.”

But, he added that the @ Hotel and Retail Center “deserves further scrutiny.”

Josie Parker, director of the Ann Arbor District Library, said the library supports both proposals because they would increase traffic to the library and city.

"What we do hope to see the city do is make a decision that will generate revenue to the downtown ... and will liven the streets," she said.

But Parker said the library’s board hasn't endorsed a specific proposal.

According to Rapundalo, City Council is expected to make a final decision about which proposal to accept around March 1.