After Google bowed out of negotiations last year to develop a hotel next to its headquarters, several other developers stepped up to the plate, and the City Council confirmed a favorite on Tuesday.

City officials will exclusively negotiate with the Robert Green Company to lease and develop a hotel on 9.4 acres of the 18.6 acres of city-owned land adjacent to the Googleplex. The site, known as "Charleston East," would become home to a "four diamond" hotel and conference center with 285,000 square feet and up to 350 rooms.

"When you stop and think about it, it is the one amenity the city doesn't have," said Ellis Berns, economic development director. "We have several hotels and they are all very good, but nothing that provides four diamond quality with a conference center."

The city is hoping the Robert Green Company can provide that quality. The company developed the Four Seasons in East Palo Alto and the Ritz Carlton in Half Moon Bay. Kimpton Hotels would be the operator.

A deal will likely require some investment from the city, according to city manager Kevin Duggan. But city officials plan to use lease revenue for the northern nine acres of the site -- Google pays the city $1.7 million a year for it -- to keep the project from increasing the city's projected budget deficit.

If a deal is made, it will be the end of a decade-long quest to build a hotel at the site. In 2001 the City Council rejected a plan by hotel giant Hyatt, which asked for a $19 million subsidy as the hotel market slumped nationwide. The hotel market faces similar problems today, but the Robert Green Company and Kimpton continue to express interest, Berns said.

The hotel would probably be built in 2011 or 2012, Berns said, at which point the "market and economy would be moving in a more positive direction."

If built, Berns said, a new conference center would help attract businesses to the area.

"We're starting to find companies don't have conference space because they are having to minimize the space they lease," due to the economy, he said. "Certainly we hope it will help business."

The hotel could add $45 million to $55 million in property taxes alone for the Shoreline tax district over 55 years taxes which can only be spent on city projects within the neighborhood north of Highway 101 and west of Stevens Creek. The city's general fund would also get substantial revenue from the land lease, which has yet to be negotiated.

For its part, Google's plans for a 310,000-square-foot building on the site's northern 9.2 acres are on hold for now, even though the company is paying the $1.7 million a year to lease the land. Google would have paid the city another $4 million a year for the southern side zoned for the hotel, according to a 2006 city report.

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