After the city of Memphis announced a plan in September that would have brought a Grand Hyatt Hotel to Memphis as part of its One Beale project, it was disclosed this week that the plans for the hotel have fallen through.
Developer Chance Carlisle blamed the city, saying that it did not hold up its end of the bargain to provide $46 million in municipal bonds for the project. Instead, those bonds only amounted to $41 million.
“The real question is why the terms changed at the 11th hour when millions of dollars and hundreds of construction jobs were at risk by local Memphians on a hotel the city needs,” he said.
Carlisle said the project would not continue unless Memphis made up the difference.
The total planned cost of building the hotel was $190 million. The hotel was expected to have 350 hotel rooms and 43,000 square feet of meeting space.
“Carlisle Development has kept the project near its original schedule and advanced more than $9 million of capital,” Carlisle reportedly said in a letter to mayor Jim Strickland. “To continue to spend capital without further delay, we request your plan to restore the incentives to $46 million.”
But Strickland denied the request, saying that the city “does not have a plan for providing an additional $5 million to this project and is unable to offer any further financial support.”
The project was announced with excitement in September.
“I am happy to announce that we have come to an agreement with the Grand Hyatt developers to build the hotel. The deal greatly limits the City’s risk of financial loss and eliminates any impact on our bond rating and debt capacity,” Strickland said at the time. “This is a win for the City of Memphis, and I look forward to the day when the Grand Hyatt transforms our skyline.”
One Beale is a series of construction projects meant to reinvigorate downtown Memphis.
Another Hyatt hotel, the Hyatt Centric, was the first phase of the One Beale project. It has been completed.
One Beale also includes a luxury apartment complex called The Landing.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Grand Hyatt Hotel” by Brichar60. CC BY-SA 4.0.
They should call it a professional sports stadium then the city would fall all over itself to give them $100 million or more to build it.