Renaissance Parking Lot?
The Fayetteville Off Street Parking Improvement District Board found out on Monday that they will not be able to exercise a buyback clause in their contract for the former Mountain Inn property from developers John Nock and Richard Alexander.
Their attorney John Logan Burrow informed the board Monday night that the clause could only be used if developers failed to provide construction, architecture and engineering services on the project within a certain time frame. Nock and Alexander have apparently met this obligation.
Alexander told the board Monday that they still plan to build the hotel, and that partners Marriot hotels still plan to build on the old Mountain Inn site, but a slow economy and lack of financing have prevented them from moving the project forward at this time. Alexander also said 37 of the Marriot’s current projects are in a similar situation. Work has already begun to fill in the giant hole that was to become the foundation for the new hotel, and the back-sides of the old buildings exposed by the demolition of the old hotel have been painted.
For now, developers plan to turn the site into a parking lot, a process of which will take “a few months,” Alexander said.
I know we’d rather have a hotel there, and I know that a lot of people probably aren’t real happy with this, but the question is, isn’t this better than the hole in the ground that was there? What do y’all think?
[Via NWA News]
Comments
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Total Bastard
November 19, 2008
I think in the short term this might help out the restaurants on Center Street.
Y’all know the old Hoffbrau is going to be a DamGoode Pies, right?
sofresh-n-sogay
November 19, 2008
Hell, yes Bastard!!! I just said to a coworker the other day after talking about the Mellow Mushroom that we need some Damgoode!!! There is also supposed to be a new pizza place opening up by Wes’s BBQ.
JTrain
November 19, 2008
Mmmmm, damgoode pies.
Eat till we pee sounds like a winner. Let’s hope they keep the hoffbrau tradition alive! If that’s indeed where they set up shop.
RHatfield
November 19, 2008
So…build a parking log and then in a year or so dig everything back up for the foundation for the hotel. Does this make sense? I guess this is why I am not in business!
J.J.S.
November 24, 2008
Actually, from a business sense it does and doesn’t make sense. They will be generating income on an otherwise non-income generating lot with the parking. However it will cost I would assume that amount just to create it. This is however a cost of doing business with the city that hates you. If it wasn’t for the city we would still have a terrible and unsafe building. Then again if it wasn’t for the city, the developers would have more money to start the project sooner because they wouldn’t have so much crap to deal with (leaving the crane up @ x thousands of dollars and filling in the hole and painting the walls of the buildings and…).
Everyone knew what they were getting into when the deal was started. Some have just decided to use it to their own advantage and make it look worse than it is.
Angel Lust
November 25, 2008
JJS: Please again explain how it this is ALL the city’s fault (and do name names of those who you believe were responsible). And please help me have the requisite amount of sympathy for the developers because I’m just not feeling it.