In the wake of Wednesday’s Metro Council decision to deny a special taxing district for the proposed Courtyard Marriott hotel downtown, Downtown Development District Executive Director Davis Rhorer says he is doing whatever he can to try to salvage the project and keep South Carolina-based developer Windsor Aughtry from walking away from the deal.
“I’ve been talking with them and talking about various scenarios,” he says. “I’m going to do everything from my end. We’ll keep talking and see.”
As a practical matter, there is not a lot the DDD can do. Windsor Aughtry has said the creation of a tax increment financing district is necessary to make the construction of the new 147-room hotel economically viable. But the council voted 5-4 against creation of the TIF, after questions were raised about whether the downtown market has too many hotels.
Rhorer says Windsor Aughtry has produced data showing the market is not oversaturated, and that he will try to talk to council members about bringing back the TIF measure, which fell three votes short of passage.
“That corner of Third and Florida streets is a great location for hotel,” he says. “We’re going to see what we can do to get it back on track.”
Earlier today, a Windsor Aughtry executive told Daily Report the project’s future “remains in doubt.”
Mayor Kip Holden, who was not present at Wednesday’s meeting, declined to comment today on the TIF failure, saying he has not had a chance to sit down and analyze the situation.
—Stephanie Riegel
