So there are 3 new hotels planned on Erie's Bayfront... 2 on the east by Scott Enterprises, as part of their Harbor Place development... and 1 on the west by the Erie County Convention Authority on the former GAF industrial property to complement the existing Sheraton Bayfront hotel connected to the convention center.

Scott battled with the Convention Center Authority a decade ago to build the convention center and hotel on his property -- he lost, he was x'd out of the deal, and it was built on the west bayfront with public funds. Now another publicly-funded hotel is being planned by the Authority.

Scott Enterprises lobbying County Council against new Convention Center hotel

Officials from Scott Enterprises Inc. -- which recently announced plans for a $150 million private waterfront development -- are lobbying Erie County Council in opposition of a multimillion-dollar bond guarantee for a proposed new publicly financed hotel adjacent to the Bayfront Convention Center.

Several council members said Scott Enterprises officials -- including the company's president, Nick Scott Sr., have met with members of the seven-member panel since Monday, both to explain their project and to ask council to consider whether another public hotel is necessary.

County Council agreed in February 2005 to guarantee the $48 million bond issue for the 200-room Sheraton Erie Bayfront Hotel, which is connected to the Convention Center via an overhead walkway. That hotel opened in April 2008 on West Dobbins Landing as part of the $100 million-plus Convention Center complex.

The Convention Center Authority is seeking the bond guarantee for either a long-term capital bond or bank financing, said Roger Richards, a Convention Center Authority board member who heads the authority's Strategic Planning Committee.

That financing would be used along with a $25 million state grant to fund the hotel. A county guarantee would allow the Convention Center Authority to obtain a lower interest rate on the debt.