I'm sure it's been told to death already but does anyone have a date for the end of the exclusivity agreement with Radisson? I know it's soon but I feel like I've heard a few different years thrown out when exactly it expires.
I had to look this up, and it appears that back in 2005 the city and the Radisson were working on a new deal, but I'm not sure if it passed. The deal included forgiving almost all of the Radisson's $17 million debt to the city, knocking it down to just $1 million. What the city would get is the ability to support another downtown hotel. Can anyone remember if this deal passed in that form? Anyway, it was an eleven year agreement, and this was back in September 2005 when this was reported on, so the deal would be up sometime next year or the beginning of 2017 depending on when the deal was signed if it was evere signed.
Whether that deal went through or not, it seems Virg has been adament that a new hotel would have to come with either the expansion of the Lansing Center or the casino. It seems that they don't believe that there is demand. I think they'd be surprised.
To my knowledge that deal never went through, I don't remember hearing about it. The original/renewed deal restricted the City from giving tax incentives to another downtown hotel through 2017. I'd still like to know what was really behind that.
Lansing Mayor Tony Benavides has accused his challenger in the Nov. 8 mayoral election, state Sen. Virg Bernero, of "fiddling" with city business by lobbying members of the City Council to vote against a major hotel deal.
Bernero contacted members of the Council and asked them to vote against a deal crafted by Benavides’ administration to forgive a $17 million debt owed to the city by investors of the downtown Radisson Hotel.
Bernero’s efforts fell short, however: The Council approved the deal 5-3 on Sept. 26.
A statement released last week by Benavides’ campaign said Bernero reached "a new low in shamelessness" by attempting to sway the vote.
"I think that he should stay out of it," Benavides said of Bernero in an interview Monday. "He’s not on the inside to know exactly what’s going on."
Benavides said Bernero didn’t know enough about the deal in order to lobby the Council to vote either way on it.
"Sometimes you get so desperate that you would do anything," Benavides said.
Bernero said he did nothing wrong by lobbying the Council.
"I think I have every right as a citizen and an obligation as a senator to take opposition on an issue that will affect the city for years to come," Bernero said.
Apparently, the part about the non-competition clause I got wrong. The "new" deal that passed pretty much included it.
In 1985 the city loaned the Block 100 Limited Partnership, the hotel’s investors, $4.3 million in federal grant funds to open the 260-room hotel downtown. After 20 years, interest on the principal had ballooned the debt to $17 million.
The deal passed by the Council forgives that debt and requires the investors to pay the city a total of $500,000 over the next two years. Beginning in 2013, the Block 100 Limited Partnership will make optional payments of $100,000 per year until 2018.
In all, the city will receive up to $1 million from the investors. However, only $500,000 of that is guaranteed.
The most contentious part of the deal was not the debt forgiveness, but rather a "non-subsidization clause," which City Attorney Paul Novak said prevents the city from subsidizing another hotel in the downtown area by any more than 15 percent. However, no clear-cut boundaries exist to define "downtown," Novak added.
The Radisson is the only hotel downtown, and will likely remain as such for the remainder of the agreement.
Novak said the new deal is a step up from the old agreement, which completely forbade the city from subsidizing another hotel downtown.
That improvement was not enough for some Council members. Leeman offered an amendment prior to the vote that would have removed the non-subsidization clause, allowing the city to fully negotiate with other investors in order to attract more hotels to the heart of the city.
Novak said that Leeman’s amendment would be "tantamount to denying the agreement."
Leeman pulled his amendment and moved to set the entire deal aside for further discussion and negotiation. That motion was defeated, 3-5, with Leeman, Allen and Bauer voting in support.
Bauer said the non-subsidization clause "tied the city’s hands" for the next 13 years.
"Why would we, the city of Lansing, reduce an obligation of $17 million down to $500,000 and then turn right around and allow them to set the terms?" Bauer said.
This thing was an utter mess. Ugh. Seems that the hotel, again, got everything it wanted. Hopefully, this time around with the city growing in a way that it wasn't at the time that we'll have more leverage to tell them to stick it if they don't agree to the rescinding of the non-competition clause.
LANSING TWP. – A new boutique hotel is planned for Eastwood Towne Center.
The $15 million, seven-story hotel would have roughly 130 rooms and take up two acres of land behind Hyatt Place and DTN’s apartment complex The Vista. It would be the fourth hotel at Eastwood.
Steven Hayward, executive director of Eastwood’s Downtown Development Authority, said the site plan is expected to be submitted in March and it would be premature to announce the hotel’s name.
The plans are for a boutique hotel that is modern in style and geared toward millennials, with a nightclub or bar inside, Hayward said. Ideally, construction would start this summer.
Definitely some overlap as it concerns things like lodging and retail, which they've gone really big on. Fortunately, that's about where it ends. The township doesn't seem to want any big office buildings or anything; they really do want it as a "town center" as opposed to another full-fledged downtown.
Anyway, since its going to be up there, I've always thought they could better connect it with downtown. In my dreams, I always thought that for part of dedicated mass transit route (that would start downtown and take Larch up to Lake Lansing Road) that would use the old abandoned rail right-of-way off Lake Lansing just before you reach High Street. You know, make it a TOD (transit-oriented development) if it has to exist at all.
I've always imagined a train running from REO Town - downtown - Old Town and over to either the Airport or Eastwood. Or an Eastwood - Airport route that connects to a REOTown -Old Town route in Old Town. Obviously a Michigan Ave route is a given.
BTW- The Heights at Eastwood (the new apts in Eastwood) have decorative ambient lights now- and they look great at night. The boutique hotel proposed for property north of the Hyatt will make the shopfronts on the back side of the parking garage relevant. I believe the old DDA master plan also placed row houses north of the Hyatt and apartments. I think that would be a logical next step.
Love the new developments but I really wish that they would develop south towards downtown instead of going further north. Maybe one day, all of Lansing will play along well together.
I agree that development should not extend north of Eastwood- and should be focused south. However, while Eastwood is technically "sprawl"ing into previously undeveloped areas, I find it far less offensive than the sprawl west of 96 in Delta township or east of Okemos-- or even the East Lansing northern tier. I live walking distance from Eastwood (south of Eastwood) and find it convenient- but I spend a lot more time in downtown East Lansing and Lansing- and Old Town. That's the point, I think Eastwood can be a part of a strong East Side- especially with the new developments around Frandor (which was Eastwood long before Eastwood).
The Lansing Metro population is proposed to grow by 25% in the next few decades. Also, as several recent articles have stated, the Lansing area has become very attractive for family events like sports tournaments, MSU activities, boy scouts, etc. This explains the demand for hotel rooms. I would rather have families staying at Eastwood than at exit 110 (south Okemos) or way out west. After all, it's only 5 minutes to Old Town and East Lansing- and only a few minutes more downtown- and if population and tourism continue to expand, Eastwood doesn't have to be mutually exclusive with the Red Cedar development.
The full service Hyatt in Red Cedar is supposed to be 10+ stories, the office complex 8+ stories, and SkyVue 9 stories. Proof that the 127 corridor and the East Side can play nice- and may be symbiotic.
Comments
Whether that deal went through or not, it seems Virg has been adament that a new hotel would have to come with either the expansion of the Lansing Center or the casino. It seems that they don't believe that there is demand. I think they'd be surprised.
Apparently, the part about the non-competition clause I got wrong. The "new" deal that passed pretty much included it.
This thing was an utter mess. Ugh. Seems that the hotel, again, got everything it wanted. Hopefully, this time around with the city growing in a way that it wasn't at the time that we'll have more leverage to tell them to stick it if they don't agree to the rescinding of the non-competition clause.
Anyway, since its going to be up there, I've always thought they could better connect it with downtown. In my dreams, I always thought that for part of dedicated mass transit route (that would start downtown and take Larch up to Lake Lansing Road) that would use the old abandoned rail right-of-way off Lake Lansing just before you reach High Street. You know, make it a TOD (transit-oriented development) if it has to exist at all.
BTW- The Heights at Eastwood (the new apts in Eastwood) have decorative ambient lights now- and they look great at night. The boutique hotel proposed for property north of the Hyatt will make the shopfronts on the back side of the parking garage relevant. I believe the old DDA master plan also placed row houses north of the Hyatt and apartments. I think that would be a logical next step.
The Lansing Metro population is proposed to grow by 25% in the next few decades. Also, as several recent articles have stated, the Lansing area has become very attractive for family events like sports tournaments, MSU activities, boy scouts, etc. This explains the demand for hotel rooms. I would rather have families staying at Eastwood than at exit 110 (south Okemos) or way out west. After all, it's only 5 minutes to Old Town and East Lansing- and only a few minutes more downtown- and if population and tourism continue to expand, Eastwood doesn't have to be mutually exclusive with the Red Cedar development.
The full service Hyatt in Red Cedar is supposed to be 10+ stories, the office complex 8+ stories, and SkyVue 9 stories. Proof that the 127 corridor and the East Side can play nice- and may be symbiotic.