UPDATE: NC Times says wait on hotel
The North County Times has advised delaying for more study any decision on the proposed downtown Marriott hotel. The unsigned editorial cites “considerable risk” in projected income and recommends “the deal should be delayed for additional study.” An article by NCT reporter David Garrick reviews the projections in more detail.
Council members have approved a deal that would provide $10.7 million in cash from redevelopment funds, along with the land and the conference center, as part of a project with a total cost of approximately $70 million.
See an earlier post about what Escondidans think of the proposal.
Read EDC President Paul McNamara’s op-ed in North County Times.
I am going to formally christen this project “Pfilers Folly”. a fitting tribute to an administration that has ignored the wishes of the citizens, catered to the special interests of developers and is willing to gamble with tax payers money.
If you read the staff report the cash contribution by the City is $16.5M, $5.6M for the convention center and $1.8 value of land. In addition $1.3M for street improvements. That’s a total of $25.2. Then there’s the matter of a 55 year lease with no lease payments fpr the first 12 years. Then we have the transient occupancy tax that the city is allowing the hotel to keep for 4 years…value of $3.5M.
This is the biggest giveaway in the history of Escondido.