First hurdle for new hotel on Sassafras St. Pier cleared!

Tired of the political games being played by the private developer Scott Enterprises regarding this issue. Scott Enterprises has owned a very large, prime parcel of bayfront land for going on 20 years now and they have done NOTHING with it. They released plans for a hotel development called "Harborside" in the late 1990s... nothing even materialized... and then they got involved in the convention center hotel deal, but Scott proved to be such a cheap pain in the ass that the Convention Center Authority dropped him as developer, he sued, lost, and came out looking bad when the case was just recently resolved... and about 3 years ago, Scott announced plans for a bayfront hotel to be built in Fall 2011... nothing.

So now that the Convention Center Authority releases solid plans for a second bayfront hotel in September 2013, Scott comes out with his "Harborplace" development in November 2013... including 2 hotels... and states that he has no problem with the Conv Ctr Auth hotel... then he says he does have a problem with it and goes on a public crusade to drum up opposition to it being guaranteed by public funds, all the while lobbying for public funding for his "private" hotels.

Scott has sat on his land for 20 years... holding much of the bayfront hostage to HIS dollar. There has been nothing preventing him from developing that land for nearly 2 decades, and now he is attempting to stifle development that he feels can affect his potential future development... which given his history on the bayfront, may never see the light of day.


Erie County Council OKs debt guarantee for bayfront hotel

http://www.goerie.com/erie-county-co...bayfront-hotel

A $65,000-a-year payment has been approved.

There's also a land swap, involving county government and the area's largest hotelier.

And Erie County Council -- after weeks of often bitter public debate -- approved a loan guarantee of up to $60 million, clearing the way for a new 191-room hotel adjacent to the Bayfront Convention Center.

At the end of a furious day of maneuvering on waterfront development, County Council on Tuesday night voted 4-2 in favor of the debt guarantee, which in recent weeks became one of the most contentious political issues seen locally in years.

The guarantee, requested by the Erie County Convention Center Authority, allows the authority to use county government's high-grade debt rating to save nearly $20 million in interest costs on either a long-term capital bond or bank financing to pay for the hotel.

Council members debated the issue for weeks. But a council majority was not secured until Tuesday morning, when the Erie County Convention Center Authority unanimously approved giving the county $65,000 a year in exchange for the loan guarantee over the life of the 30-year bonds needed for the hotel project, or an estimated $2 million.

The Convention Center Authority wants a new publicly owned, publicly funded hotel and parking garage adjacent to the Bayfront Convention Center on the Sassafras Street Pier. The authority secured a $25 million state grant for the project, in addition to the millions saved on financing.

County government would be at risk for repayment only if the authority defaulted on its loan.

The hotel could be open as soon as 2016.

In another move crucial to Tuesday's developments, the Convention Center Authority agreed to give the county a parcel of land, valued at $250,000, at the northeast corner of State Street and the Bayfront Parkway, so the county can swap that parcel with land that private developer Nick Scott Sr. owns near the county's Blasco Library.

His company, Scott Enterprises Inc., led opposition to the debt guarantee, claiming that a second publicly guaranteed hotel would hurt the Sheraton's revenues and that there is no reason to put taxpayers at risk when a private developer is willing to build nearby.

Scott Enterprises has also proposed Harbor Place, a $150 million waterfront development about one-half mile east of the Convention Center. The Scott project includes at least one hotel and would mostly be privately funded, though it is seeking a $12 million state grant.

They are working through the city of Erie to try to get a $12 million state grant to help build their hotel off lower State Street, and have made it clear the scope and schedule of their larger Harbor Place project could depend on it becoming eligible for major tax breaks under the state's Community Revitalization and Improvement Program.

In other words, the Scotts want the public to subsidize their plans as well. Their proposal for private investment has a lot of public expense built in.