Without discussion or explanation, the Metro Council on Wednesday unanimously approved creating a tax increment financing district to help defray construction costs of the of the $17 million Hampton Inn & Suites planned for downtown. “Financing has been a challenge, and this TIF contribution will help us secure our financing package,” says Bo Aughtry, commercial division president of Greenville, S.C.-based developer Windsor/Aughtry. “It is my hope we will start construction at the end of next month or the first of June.” The next step will be determining how much of the city’s 13% lodging tax will go toward the Hampton Inn. The city receives a 2% share of the tax, while the state gets 4% — most of which it refunds to the city — and the rest is split between the Baton Rouge Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (3%), public schools (2%), retirement of River Center bonds (1%) and road and sewer projects (0.5% each). Many local hoteliers along with the lodging association had publicly opposed the Hampton Inn TIF. Though they had representatives at Wednesday’s meeting, no one spoke up during a public hearing before a vote was taken.
In a separate vote, the council OK’d using a $1.5 million disaster recovery grant to partner with the East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority in purchasing 200 acres in Mid City for the creation of the Smiley Heights development. Read the full story here. —Steve Sanoski
This story has been corrected since it was first published
