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Mayor tells City Council that Downtown hotel must not be delayed

Monday, May 13th, 2013

By John Martin

via – Evansville Courier-Press

EVANSVILLE — Evansville needs the commerce and jobs a Downtown convention hotel will bring, and the project must not be delayed any longer, Mayor Lloyd Winnecke told the City Council Monday.

The city is to provide $37.5 million of the development’s $70 million cost, according to a predevelopment agreement with HCW of Branson, Mo. Of the city’s share, $20 million is a direct contribution to construction of the 253-room Doubletree by Hilton, which will be owned and operated by HCW. The remaining $17.5 million is to be for a 330-space parking facility, connections between the hotel property and The Centre and Ford Center and storage for the Ford Center.

HCW also plans a tower with 78 upscale apartments, and a restaurant on the property. The hotel is to include 6,400 square feet of ballroom space.

Bonds issued by the city are to be retired using tax increment financing, Casino Aztar funds and food and beverage taxes, according to city officials. The City Council was told at Monday’s called informational meeting that those three funds generate nearly $18 million in net revenue in an average year, roughly $8 million of which is currently set aside to retire debt on the Ford Center.

Debt on the hotel development’s cost is projected to be about $2 million per year for about 25 years, city financial consultant Robert Swintz with the London Witte Group.

Winnecke said the city’s desire to have an Indiana University School of Medicine facility built Downtown in the next few years — a project that might also involve city incentives — should not prevent the hotel project from going forward.

Committees are currently studying potential locations, academic plans and costs associated with an IU facility. Winnecke said IU will request state funding, but that won’t occur until the next state budget comes up for consideration in 2015.

Winnecke said the project could be “transformative” for Evansville. “We’re very hopeful it will come through for the community. But there’s no guarantee of a medical school. We shouldn’t wait on the hotel for the outcome of the medical project … A convention hotel will be a great inducement to bring a medical facility Downtown.”

The hotel development will create both permanent and construction jobs. CEO Rick Huffman of HCW said a hotel with 253 rooms likely will create the same number of jobs. He said the conference center will bring 8-12 full-time and 35-45 part-time positions, and the restaurant and retail space will also have employees.

Public comment during the City Council meeting generally supported the hotel project and especially its promise of jobs.

“I have a strong belief Downtown is, was and will be worth the effort,” Bruce Griffin said.

“We need that hotel,” Jerome Stewart said. “There’s no doubt about it … When parents struggle for the lack of gainful employment, children suffer as well.”

Jim Braker said the community needs jobs, but he’s concerned about the revenue from Evansville’s casino holding steady in the next few years as competition for players increases.

Charlene Williamson praised the development’s plan for apartments, calling that aspect “an ingenious addition.” She and many others in the audience wore orange stickers which said “Build Them Both,” referring to the hotel project and IU facility.

The Rev. Adrian Brooks Sr. said he supports the hotel development, but he urged the city to attempt to negotiate down its subsidy and the saved revenue to demolish more Center City structures and upgrade parks and sidewalks. Brooks urged that 20 percent of business on the project be set aside for women- and minority-owned businesses and a third of its employment go to Center City residents.

Huffman vowed that women- and minority-owned businesses will be involved.

Most of the City Council’s questions dealt with financing. Conor O’Daniel, D-At-large, asked repeatedly if the city could afford incentives for both a hotel project and a medical school, which would require substantial Downtown real estate.

“Could we afford it based on the cash flows you show?” O’Daniel asked Swintz. Swintz replied that much depends on the pattern of interest rates in the next few years.

Dan Adams, D-At-large, and Finance Chair John Friend, D-5th Ward, urged that the project have an internal auditor who is independent of the developer.

The Evansville Hotel Lodging Association, consisting of owners and operators of 14 local hotels, does not object to the building of a convention hotel but it is “adamantly opposed” to the level of public funding, said Jacob Pendleton, immediate past president.

Pendleton said the association “is strongly in favor of increasing our tourism industry” but “we believe that subsidizing private development with too much public money will ultimately put our industry, and our city, at risk.”

Bob Warren, director of the Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau, conceded that some “shifting” in hotel business will occur with a new Downtown hotel, but overall hotel business in the city will increase 30 to 40 percent if the property is built.

Hunden Strategic Partners, the city’s hotel project consultant, concluded that the city has a sizeable total number of rooms, but they aren’t in the right locations or the right quality to bring convention business.

Pendleton said Hunden’s report validates his association’s position. Rob Hunden with Hunden Strategic Partners argued the opposite, saying the convention hotel plan being considered “is designed to make the pie bigger” for the whole hotel market.

Officials with the city and HCW continue to negotiate a final development agreement, which is subject to Evansville Redevelopment Commission approval. Bonds for the public share must be approved by City Council. Winnecke said he’d like to break ground on the project in late summer.

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Posted in 2013, Convention Hotel, Evansville, Indiana, Rob Hunden | Comments Off

To build, or not to build?

Thursday, April 18th, 2013

-via Black Hills Pioneer

By Heather Murschel

Spearfish convention center expansion board relays risks of $5.3M project to city

SPEARFISH — The proposed $5.3 million convention center expansion entails several “substantial risks” for both the city of Spearfish and the tourism related businesses that would pay additional taxes to fund the project if it was constructed.

After the city council approved a resolution to create its third Business Improvement District (BID) in December 2012, a board consisting of Scott Stampe, Stephanie Adams, Jim Hess, Greg Krier, Clair Donovan, Barry Bibler, and Don Brune were appointed to review the financial feasibility of the project, as well as determine a fair and equitable rate the potential businesses in the district would pay.

After meeting diligently for three months and fielding questions regarding the project, their conclusions on whether to move forward or not were revealed Monday.

“The proposed expansion could be good for the future, but there are substantial risks involved that need to be considered before making a decision,” Scott Stampe said of the board’s conclusions. “There are just so many unknowns at this point.”

First and foremost, he said, the Holiday Inn would need to renovate the building.

“If funded, the expansion should be contingent on the hotel renovation, and until this happens we believe the project should be shelved,” Stampe said. “It’s quite a few decades old, and though regular maintenance has been done and it looks adequate, we’ve learned that the host facility needs to have the appearance of a new facility for the expansion to be successful.”

He said they made the determination after considering the results of a $25,000 feasibility study Hunden Strategic Partners conducted last year, which reviewed several factors, including economic benefits, what people look for when determining a location, and surveying trade organizations to determine the latest trends.

The other risks involved, Stampe explained, include the abundance of regional competition, the lack of parking and that the hotel may not have enough rooms to accommodate larger events.

“We believe these risks should be reevaluated when the renovation occurs,” Stampe said.

Spearfish City Administrator Joe Neeb said the Holiday Inn relayed information that they are open to the idea, but the details have yet to be revealed.

“I agree that it would improve the convention experience, so this is something that should be discussed further,” Neeb said.

When it comes to the 82 tourism and leisure related businesses provided with an option to pay an additional tax to fund the project, Stampe said the majority of them are hesitant because the only businesses to benefit economically are located at Exit 14.

“They believe the impact of a new facility will not go beyond that area and that an equal assessment of businesses community-wide is not fair,” he said.  “If funded, it should be a partnership between the city and those businesses located in the area.”

After relaying the risks, he presented an option that rather than financing a project of this magnitude, they should reallocate their resources to spend on marketing Spearfish, drawing in new events and putting effort toward targeting existing ones that are held elsewhere.

When asked if this is what the BID board would like to see happen, Stampe said that is the feeling at this point.

After his presentation, he commended city council members for initiating the board.

“It was a wise move on your part to have these individauls come together to ponder these questions because it will give you some insight into the politics when it comes to the expansion,” Stampe said.

The proposal expansion has been on the city’s radar for more than two years, Williams and Associates, an architectural firm in Spearfish, submitted two different designs and several public meetings were held to garner public input.

In 2011, the city of Spearfish utilized the findings of the Convention Center Taskforce, a committee formed to determine if the expansion would be beneficial to the community as a whole, to determine that the proposed expansion has merit and that the process should continue.

From there, Hunden Strategic Partners were hired and in May 2012 representatives of the firm presented the details of the comprehensive study that consisted of multiple components and projections as to whether there will be a solid return on investment.

After this BID was approved, its boundaries were established and the council determined that taxes generated would be in addition to the revenue created by an existing BID that paid off the convention center in 2010. Today, the $2 general occupancy tax levied upon accommodations for transient guests generates $180,000 and is allocated to Visit Spearfish for marketing.

Neeb explained that the new BID would need to generate an additional $360,000 to fund the expansion, so if all the potential businesses agree to be apart of the BID, their annual assessments could range between $5,000 and $6,000 per year.

If the expansion comes to fruition, the two districts would work together to determine how these funds would support each mission. Neeb said all of the leisure and tourism stakeholders receive benefits from Visit Spearfish’s marketing and attraction efforts and that an expansion of the convention center will generate more room nights sold.

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Posted in 2013, Convention Center, Convention Hotel, South Dakota, Spearfish | Comments Off

City signs hotel pre-development agreement

Friday, April 12th, 2013

-via Evansville Courier & Press

EVANSVILLE — The city of Evansville and a Branson, Mo. company have entered into a pre-development agreement on a $70 million Downtown development project, to be anchored by a 253-room, 12-story convention hotel.

Of the total project cost, $37.5 million is to come in the form of city incentives. Final action on the city’s share is subject to City Council approval. The redevelopment commission approved the pre-development agreement 4 to 0 during a called meeting Wednesday.

The full-service hotel will be a Doubletree by Hilton. Combined with about 1,600 square feet of city-owned retail and restaurant space that’s also part of the property, the development is to employ more than 300 people.

Also proposed is a tower with about 70 upscale apartments and a parking garage with about 330 spaces.

A final development agreement is to come in about 90 days. Although some City Council members have met individually with the developer and city administration officials, the entire council will be briefed about the hotel, as well as the status of the Indiana University medical school project, during a called public meeting at 5:30 p.m. April 29 in Room 301 of the Civic Center.

“It is important to note that our administration is continuing to negotiate to reduce costs on all aspects of the development,” Mayor Lloyd Winnecke said in a prepared statement. “It is clear the city is making progress as we are embarking on another transformational project in Downtown Evansville.”

Of the $37.5 million in city subsidy, $20 million will be for the hotel. The rest is for infrastructure such as the parking facility, connections between the hotel and The Centre and the Ford Center, and a storage space for the Ford Center.

Convention & Visitors Bureau Director Bob Warren told the redevelopment commission that a convention hotel Downtown is critical to bringing business back to Evansville — business he said is now going elsewhere.

“We are losing a lot of money in our community,” Warren said.

Rick Huffman, CEO and president of HCW, the Branson company, said the hotel will have an indoor pool and spa, a conference center space and a rooftop bar “with a real modern, hip environment.”

The Centre, Evansville’s convention facility, “is a little outdated but very nice,” Huffman said, adding the hotel property is needed to bring it to life.

“It will be a success because it will draw new business to Evansville. You’re not getting that business today, and it’s your turn,” Huffman said.

Evansville Redevelopment Commission President Ed Hafer said Wednesday’s vote on the pre-development agreement was “a big step” toward moving the project. “We’ve got a great project and we’re going to make it better in the next 60-90 days as we continue to refine things.”

“It’s a branded hotel, which we have not had Downtown in a long, long time,” Hafer said. “That’s very important … most importantly, it’s going to bring a lot of activity Downtown. Activity breeds activity.”

Hafer said there’s no question in his mind the city can afford the hotel project.

“We have the cash flow with the Downtown TIF which this administration and previous administrations have put in place for this very reason,” Hafer said. “We’re not talking about raising property taxes to do it. I think the city has been cautious in their approach to financing this. We don’t want to give tax abatements because we want to keep the cash flows coming in. We can do this project and have plenty of cash reserves left for future projects.”

City Councilwoman Stephanie Brinkerhoff-Riley, D-3rd Ward, attended the redevelopment commission meeting. She noted the city has many other projects on its plate.

“It’s a lot of money, and potentially, the timing is not good. Personally, I would like to understand what’s going on with the medical school … what’s it going to take to get that here and what it’s going to be required of us to make it happen,” Brinkerhoff-Riley said. “I find the impact and idea of the medical school as a general direction of economic development and impact on this community much more exciting than building this hotel.

“It begs the question of wouldn’t it be nice if we had a general plan of economic development, it would put things in order in terms of importance.”

Under terms of the pre-agreement, the city is to pay a maximum of $200,000 to HCW for what the document calls “third-party costs” incurred by the developer. Some of those costs could involve things like analysis of soil density and traffic patterns, said Philip Hooper, Department of Metropolitan Development director.

“Most if not all of that work will be done by local firms,” Hooper said.

City Councilman Dan McGinn, R-1st Ward, said it’s “fair” that the city pay some of those expenses.

“We have to be fair with the developer, because if he’s going to go ahead and hire architects and do preliminary drawings and designs, he’s going to have some costs involved,” said Dan McGinn, a member of a city administration steering committee that vetted developers and met with HCW officials on Tuesday.

McGinn said the April 29 meeting will allow the City Council and public to learn more about the development plan. McGinn finds much to like about it.

“Cities have to preserve, protect and continue to build downtowns, or else people continue to leave and you don’t have a tax base to support city services,” McGinn said. “I look at this development as several things, one is bringing people to town to spend dollars. I believe Bob (Warren) and people who work at the Convention & Visitors Bureau will thoroughly do their job and we’ll get some business. Also, the city’s subsidy does not pay for the apartments. That’s the developer putting his own funds in, helping build the tax base downtown. It comes not only witha promise or a possibility of people living Downtown, but there are concrete realities.

“It’s been known from Day One that large hotels in Downtown areas are not profitable, so you need some government assistance. The question then becomes, do you want a downtown hotel? My answer is yes I do.”

Brinkerhoff-Riley asked Huffman during the redevelopment commission meeting about the types of jobs created by the development.

He answered that it will be a mixture of management and sales jobs and lower-salary service jobs, with all positions having benefits.

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Posted in 2013, Convention Hotel, Evansville, Indiana | Comments Off

Kentucky Kingdom partnership lands $10 million in tax credits

Wednesday, April 10th, 2013

- via Courier-Journal

By: Tom Loftus

FRANKFORT, KY. — The Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority on Wednesday unanimously approved up to $10 million in sales tax credits sought by Kentucky Kingdom LLLP.

“Now that we have secured this important component of our financing package, we can continue to wrap up some other remaining details of this exacting process,” said Ed Hart, of the Kentucky Kingdom partnership.

Hart said in a news release that he is confident that the partnership can meet its planned reopening date of May 24, 2014.

Marcheta Sparrow, secretary of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, said she is “completely confident” that the project will succeed, even though owners of Holiday World and Splashin’ Safari in Indiana backed away last year from a plan to renovate and reopen the theme park.

Sparrow said the current plan is different because of “Mr. Hart’s track record, and his interest in this project all along, and his ability to pull together a group of partners within the Louisville community who really believe in Louisville.”

The tourism authority’s action on Wednesday allows Kentucky Kingdom to retain up to $10 million in state sales taxes it collects over its first 10 years of operation. It is the last portion of a public incentive package sought by Hart’s partnership.

The authority vote came after report by the authority’s consultant, Hunden Strategic Partners, which concluded the proposal met all criteria to qualify for the sales tax incentive program.

The Hunden report said the Kentucky Kingdom partnership planned to invest at least $40 million into renovating the park, including a doubling of the size of its water park. The report said that the project will generate about $420 million in new spending over 10 years and “support 439 net new full-time and full-time equivalent jobs” by its fourth year of operation.

Hart said in a news release that after examining the 100 buildings and 40 rides at the park, he and his partners have determined it will cost more to reopen Kentucky Kindgom than they originally thought. “My partners and I are prepared to make the additional commitment needed to cover that cost and all of the parties involved understand that it will take until the end of June to complete the financing and various interparty agreements,” Hart said.

Hart’s group has been granted a long-term lease on the fairgrounds property by the Kentucky State Fair Board. Under the lease, Hart and his partners — businessman Bruce Lunsford, lawyer Ed Glasscock and the Al J. Schneider Co. — have agreed to invest $45 million in park improvements by 2017 — $20 million in partner equity and $25 million in borrowed money.

Hart operated the park for a decade through the late 1990s before he sold it to Six Flags. Six Flags abandoned its lease on the park in early 2010 after it filed for bankruptcy

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Posted in 2013, Kentucky, Louisville, Rob Hunden | Comments Off

Put casino Downtown, add event center, study urges

Monday, April 1st, 2013

-via St. Joseph News-Press

By Kim Norvell – St. Joseph News-Press

After more than a year of research, an outside company has come up with a $64 million plan that would develop Downtown by moving the casino and building a state-of-the art event center.

The company, Hunden Strategic Partners, came up with five different scenarios and plans that could feasibly be done in St. Joseph, but has suggested one that would use less public funds and would keep Civic Arena intact.

A presentation of the study’s results and alternative scenarios will be given to the City Council at a public work session at 4:15 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall, 1100 Frederick Ave.

Objectives of the main proposal include development of a new casino Downtown, renovation of the Holiday Inn, development of restaurants along Felix Street, improvements to Civic Arena, development of a 550-space parking garage and development of a casino-run event center.

The proposed project would cost $64.2 million — $12.5 million of which would come from public funds; the rest would be paid for by the casino. Funding from the city’s portion would come from a Downtown TIF, Downtown CID and the hotel/motel tax, all of which already have been approved by the council or voters.

As part of the suggested plan, the casino would purchase and rehabilitate the Holiday Inn ($7.4 million); build a larger casino, complete with 150 hotel rooms, a spa and a large meeting facility ($19.8 million); build and manage an entertainment center that would be large enough to attract sporting events and concerts ($16.2 million); and develop an “entertainment district” with diverse restaurants and bars ($8.2 million).

The casino would be located north of the Holiday Inn, in its existing parking lot; the event center would bridge Third Street, closing the street, and connect east to Civic Arena.

The city then would be responsible for building a 550-space parking garage adjacent to the casino ($7.5 million); and providing upgrades to Civic Arena ($5 million).

Upgrades to the arena would make it ADA accessible and incorporate additional bathrooms and concessions. The upgrades would not be enough to make it a state-of-the-art entertainment center, but could draw arena events and conventions.

The plan also includes suggestions for what to do with the old casino space on Waterworks Road, if it were to move Downtown. Multiple plans suggested anything from baseball fields to a marina to a restaurant.

The City Council approved a contract with Hunden Strategic Partners in July 2011 to conduct “a development plan on the location, cost and estimated revenue from an event center, casino and Downtown hotel,” said Clint Thompson, director of Planning & Community Development, in a memo to city staff. One of the catalysts of the study was the 2011 flood, which shuttered the St. Jo Frontier Casino for three months.

Originally it was thought that a larger project would be completed in the area, which would include tearing down Civic Arena and adding even more hotel rooms. However, funding for the larger project scenario would be too great, even with assistance from the state.

The full study can be accessed on the city’s website at www.stjoemo.info/study.

 

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Posted in 2013, Cities, Hotel, Missouri, St. Joseph | Comments Off

Ritz-Carlton Chicago for sale

Wednesday, February 13th, 2013

via ChicagoRealEstateDaily.com

By: Alby Gallun February 13, 2013

Investors hunting for luxury hotels have the chance to buy one of the city’s best-known properties: the Ritz-Carlton Chicago.

Chicago-based JMB Realty Corp., the Ritz’s owner, has hired Hodges Ward Elliott, an Atlanta-based hotel brokerage to sell the 435-room hotel just off Michigan Avenue, which could fetch about $180 million, or $414,000 a room, according to sources.

A sale at that price would rank among the most expensive in Chicago, but still well below the record $505,000 a room that Sam Zell paid in 2011 for the Elysian Hotel, now the Waldorf Astoria.

Hotel prices have jumped the past couple years amid rising occupancies and room rates and investors’ increased willingness to buy riskier assets. Revenue per available room, a metric that accounts for both occupancy and room rate, rose to $209.48 at downtown Chicago’s luxury hotels last year, an 11.6 percent increase over 2011, according to data from Hunden Strategic Partners and Smith Travel Research.

Yet the downtown luxury hotel sector has gotten much more crowded since the Ritz opened in the mid-1970s. More recent additions include the 188-room Waldorf in the Gold Coast, the 339-room Trump Hotel in River North and the Langham, a 316-room hotel in the former IBM Building set to open this summer.

“The top of the market has gotten much more competitive and with the addition of the Langham, it will put all luxury hotels in the position of having to defend their current customer base,” Rob Hunden, president of Chicago-based Hunden Strategic Partners, said in a text message.

Executives at JMB and Hodges Ward Elliott did not return calls. Newsletter Real Estate Alert first reported that the Ritz was on the market.

The Ritz, 160 E. Pearson St., is part of the Ritz-Carlton chain but is managed by Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts. Marriott International Inc., the owner of the Ritz brand, would be a logical bidder on the hotel, allowing it to break the management agreement with Four Seasons, establish its own management contract and then sell the property, according to Real Estate Alert.

The hotel, part of the Water Tower Place complex, has rebounded from the recession but has yet to hit pre-crash levels. Revenue rose to $54.2 million in 2011, up 10 percent from 2010, according to a loan report from Bloomberg L.P. Revenue peaked at $65.3 million in 2007.

Net operating income, meanwhile, rose to $6.8 million in 2011, an 86 percent gain from the prior year, according to the report. The hotel generated a $461,183 loss in 2009. Figures for 2012 were not available
Read more: http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.com/article/20130213/CRED03/130219915/ritz-carlton-chicago-for-sale#ixzz2KnKXgnRa

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Posted in 2013, Chicago, Hotel, Hunden Quoted, Illinois, Rob Hunden | Comments Off

BID to include 82 potential businesses

Thursday, December 27th, 2012

via – Black Hills Pioneer

By Heather Murschel Black Hills Pioneer

SPEARFISH — In order to fund the proposed expansion of the Spearfish Holiday Inn and Convention Center, the city will need to incorporate its third Business Improvement District (BID).

On Monday, members of the Spearfish City Council approved a resolution to establish the boundaries for a new BID in order to identify 82 tourism and leisure orientated businesses that would pay an additional assessment. Letters will be mailed to those respective businesses to inform them of the BID and allow the business owners or managers to decide if they would like to be included. In order to review the information and look into financial feasibility of the expansion, in the next month a seven-member board of directors will be appointed to determine a fair and equitable rate the potential businesses in the district would be required to pay each year. The members of this board will be appointed by Mayor Jerry Krambeck, and receive final approval from the council prior to taking on the new position.

City Administrator Joe Neeb said that if the board looks into this further and together they determine that the expansion isn’t feasible, the proposed BID would dissolve.

“We’ve done everything that we can do as a city, and now we have turned it over to the individuals who would be responsible for generating the revenue,” Neeb said. “If they decide the expansion isn’t feasible then the BID would dissolve. If we don’t have a project, we don’t need the funding.”

He added that he expects the board to submit a recommendation either way by April 2013.

The 82 businesses were identified because they rely on the city’s marketing and advertising campaigns and benefit from tourism and travel.

Built 15 years ago for $3 million, the Spearfish Convention Center is owned by the city of Spearfish and leased to the Holiday Inn. In order to pay for the initial construction, the city created a BID made up of nine Spearfish hotels of 36 rooms or more, plus Spearfish Canyon Lodge, a voluntary member. Created by city ordinance, the BID generated enough revenue through a $2 general occupancy tax levied upon accommodations for guests, to make the annual $90,000 bond payment. The convention center was paid off in 2010, and now the $180,000 the BID creates each year is allocated to Visit Spearfish for the purpose of marketing.

The new BID would need to generate an additional $360,000 to fund the expansion, so if all the potential businesses agree to be apart of the district, their annual assessments could range between $5,000 and $6,000 per year.

The two BID’s would work together to determine how these funds would support each mission. Neeb said all of the leisure and tourism stakeholders receive benefits from Visit Spearfish’s marketing and attraction efforts and that an expansion of the convention center will generate more room nights sold.

City officials have been working towards this moment for nearly two years.

In 2011, the city of Spearfish utilized the findings of the Convention Center Taskforce, a committee formed to determine if the expansion would be beneficial to the community as a whole, to determine that the proposed expansion has merit and that the process should continue.

In February, the city of Spearfish funded a feasibility study to determine whether an expansion of the Spearfish Convention Center is financially viable. They hired Hunden Strategic Partners for an estimated $25,000 to gather the necessary information.

In May, Robin S. Hunden, president of Hunden Strategic Partners, presented the details of the comprehensive study that consisted of multiple components and projections as to whether there will be a solid return on investment. The study reviewed the area’s economic status, studied the area’s competition, surveyed trade organizations, government agencies and other associations across South Dakota in regard to what they look for in a convention center, and reviewed the potential economic benefits and expansion would have on the community as a whole.

Because Spearfish is known as a place where people can come, relax and enjoy the outdoors is an attractive asset when marketing the convention center.

“This is a huge positive for you because it will help draw in more conventions … this is a great place to visit and that will better when marketing your community,” Hunden said. “And the more people you can draw to Spearfish the better.”

He added that the strong university presence, and a bustling downtown area are also assets.

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Posted in 2012, Convention Center, Hunden Quoted, Rob Hunden, South Dakota, Spearfish | Comments Off

21c Museum Hotel Wins Tourism Incentives

Tuesday, December 18th, 2012
via – Business Lexington
POSTED ON DECEMBER 18, 2012
BY: STAFF

Frankfort, Ky - The Kentucky Tourism Development Finance Authority has approved incentives for the 21c Museum Hotel in Lexington.

The 90-room project in the old First National Building and Fayette Building has a budget of $42 million. The hotel could be eligible for an incentive of up to $9 million over 10 years.

The authority heard a report Monday from Hunden Strategic Partners, the consultant hired to review the application for 21c, based in Louisville.

The net fiscal impact to Kentucky is projected to be more than $10.6 million over the 10-year term.

The authority considers applications under the Kentucky Tourism Development Act, which allows eligible tourism attractions a rebate of sales tax up to 25 percent of project capital costs over a 10-year period. Projects must meet certain criteria to be eligible, such as having a positive economic impact for the Commonwealth and attracting at least 25 percent of guests from out of state. The rebate is based on sales tax generated by the tourism attraction.

The Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority recently approved the creation of a state tax-increment financing district near the hotel site. These incentives could be worth as much as $500,000 over the 20-year term of the deal.

Also approved under the Kentucky Enterprise Incentive Act was a break valued at up to $600,000 in state sales taxes on construction materials.

Renovations to accommodate the hotel in the century-old Fayette National Bank Building and two adjacent buildings in the 100 block of West Main Street are expected to start in mid-2013 and take about 18 months to complete.

Plans call for 90 guest rooms, an art museum, conference and meeting space, and a restaurant and bar.

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Deficit shrinks at Durham convention center

Wednesday, November 28th, 2012

BY JIM WISE - JWISE@NEWSOBSERVER.COM

via The News and Observer

After the Durham Convention Center’s first year under new management, Durham taxpayers are more than $700,000 better off.

For fiscal year 2011-12, the center’s operating deficit was $297,223, according to its annual report. Under the previous management company, the 2010-11 deficit was about $1 million, after a 2009-10 deficit of almost $1.4 million.

“We’re very pleased,” said Patrick Byker, chairman of the center’s board, who reported last week to county commissioners and City Council members.

In early 2011, the city and county hired Global Spectrum, a Philadelphia subsidiary of Comcast Inc., to run the jointly-owned center. Shaner Hotel Group had run the convention center for 15 years, but a consultant’s review of the center’s finances recommended that the city and county consider other operators.

Public-owned convention centers typically operate at a deficit, but the consultant concluded that Durham’s was inordinately high. The center’s budget anticipated a deficit of almost $637,000 in 2011-12. Due to renovations, the convention center operated for only 10 months of the fiscal year; for a full 2012-13 year, the budgeted deficit is $572,000.

According to the annual report, Global Spectrum’s use of staff and energy efficiency, and renegotiated supplier contracts, accounted for significant savings. Utility costs were down 41 percent and labor costs for food and beverage service were down 43 percent. Salaries were cut 35 percent.

At the same time, the center benefitted from a $6.9-million renovation that included new heating and air conditioning, a new sound system and lighting and new floor and wall coverings.

“We have a top-quality facility that can go toe-to-toe with any other convention center in the Southeast, I think, in terms of quality,” Byker said.

Officials receiving the report did mention areas that need improving, though, including an outdoor fountain that has required significant maintenance and repair work, and the need for more staff training.

 

 

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Posted in 2012, Convention Center, Durham, North Carolina | Comments Off

Mayor expects to make hotel recommendation ‘in the coming weeks’

Wednesday, November 28th, 2012

By John Martin

via Evansville Courier Press

EVANSVILLE — Mayor Lloyd Winnecke expects to make a recommendation to the Evansville Redevelopment Commission “in the coming weeks” on which of three firms should build a new Downtown hotel as well as the still undetermined level of public financing for the project.

Three companies are being considered — Gatehouse Capital Corp. of Dallas; HCW of Branson, Mo.; and Swerdling & Associates of Denver. All three submitted bids by an Oct. 30 deadline and have since met with Winnecke and an informal committee he assembled to hear the proposals.

The three development plans include space for retail and dining establishments in addition to 240-260 hotel rooms. The hotel will replace the former Executive Inn on Walnut Street, which was demolished during construction of the Ford Center. The new hotel will be built on the site of the Executive Inn’s parking structure and one-time Green Convention Center.

“We are in the process of evaluating each of those proposals,” Winnecke said. “I can tell you that each of them would be extremely good for the city. The proposals are exciting, they are dynamic.”

Each development firm was given two hours to make a presentation to the group Winnecke assembled to hear those presentations. It consisted of City Council President Connie Robinson, D-4th Ward; City Councilman Dan McGinn, R-1st Ward; Vanderburgh County Commission President Marsha Abell; Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Bob Warren; Evansville Redevelopment Commission President Ed Hafer; and banking and business community representatives Jim Sandgren, John Daniel and Andy Goebel. Also sitting in on the presentations were accountant Bob Swintz with the London Witte Group and attorney Tom Pitman with Barnes & Thornburg.

The administration of former Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel last year had selected The Kunkel Group to develop a Downtown hotel. Negotiations stalled, however.

“We reset that project when we came into office (in January),” Winnecke said. “We hired a consultant who actually works in the hospitality industry to walk us through the process and put together a good study for us about what we really need Downtown. We’ve very pleased with how that turned out.”

Hunden Strategic Partners was paid $75,000 for the study. Winnecke said the three proposals submitted are in line with specifics established city officials and the consultant, but they are not mirror images.

All provide connectivity to The Centre and the Ford Center.

“They all contain many of the same components, yet individual components within each plan in many cases are very different,” Winnecke said.

Regarding financial incentives the city will be offering a hotel developer, Winnecke said, “One of the things we’re doing right now is trying to paint a financial picture, determine what our financial capacity is within the Downtown TIF (Tax Increment Financing), within excess riverboat, all of our funding streams to determine exactly how much we have to spend or commit on incentives.”

Last year’s proposal from Kunkel was for a 220-room hotel at $33 million. That project included a reported city incentive of $8 million and a 10-year, 100 percent tax abatement, which would have equaled an additional $4 million.

Each of three proposals currently under review by the city call for 12-14 months of construction time.

Winnecke said the tentative time frame for completion is “the end of 2014, the beginning to 2015, more or less.”

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Posted in 2012, Convention Hotel, Evansville, Indiana | Comments Off

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