While local officials have mostly been mum following the Metro Council’s decision Wednesday evening to deny the creation of a special taxing district to help finance a new Courtyard Marriott planned for downtown, the developers of the project tell Daily Report the council’s action throws the future of the hotel into serious doubt.
“Windsor Aughtry Hotel Group and local partner/investor Gordon LeBlanc are extremely disappointed in the outcome of last night’s Metropolitan Council meeting,” said Bill Fayssoux, the local project manager with Windsor Aughtry Hotel Group. “We need to evaluate all our options, if any, and respond at the appropriate time. However, without the council’s support, the likelihood of the project remains in doubt.”
The council voted 5-4 to deny the creation of a special tax increment financing district for the hotel, which was planned for a vacant parking lot owned by LeBlanc at Third and Florida streets. Windsor Aughtry has previously said it needed a TIF to help make the project economically viable, but council members questioned the need to use public funds to finance a private project in what some consider to be a nearly saturated hotel market.
While Visit Baton Rouge President and CEO Paul Arrigo told Daily Report the tourism promotion board had no opinion on the council’s vote, Mayor Kip Holden said he hadn’t yet had time to analyze the situation. Downtown Development District Executive Director Davis Rhorer, meanwhile, said he is doing whatever he can to try to salvage the project and keep the South Carolina-based developer—which also developed the Hampton Inn & Suites downtown—from walking away from the deal.
“I’ve been talking with them and talking about various scenarios,” Rhorer said. “I’m going to do everything from my end. We’ll keep talking and see.”
Also this week, Holden told Daily Report he hopes to meet with executives from Albemarle in the next couple of weeks to try to dissuade the company from relocating its corporate headquarters from Baton Rouge. Holden said he has not been officially been notified by the chemical company that it is planning to move. However, he has spoken to numerous business leaders about the situation and fears the city’s odds of retaining the corporate headquarters are slim.
Read the full Daily Report Week in Review for a recap of other top stories making headlines this week.
—Steve Sanoski
