Square Hotel Breaks Ground
OFFICIAL GROUNDBREAKING OF THE HARRISON SQUARE HOTEL
Link (INC)
“For several months city officials didn’t know for sure that the new hotel would ever get built.
Representatives from the developer White Lodging Services, joined city leaders and banking officials on Monday in commemorating the official start of the project.
The hotel will have 250 rooms, meeting space, and a Champions Sports Bar.
One of the biggest beneficiaries will be the Grand Wayne Center, hungry for more downtown hotel space to attract bigger events.”
Crews break ground on downtown hotel
Project 6 months behind schedule
Link (WANE)
“Coming through at the eleventh hour were seven local banks who decided to put their financial support behind the project. The lead bank is Centier, and along with STAR Financial Bank, Salin Bank, TOWER Bank, First Federal Bank, Grabill Bank, Lake City Bank, and Chase Bank, they were able to grant the financing for the project. Now, construction is underway, putting 50 to 75 people to work every day for the next 16 months. More than half of them local.
“This is a project that’s coming online just at a point when we need the jobs, when we need the economic development,” said former Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richard, who largely spearheaded the Harrison Square project in it’s conceptual stage during his administration.”
Can anyone come up with the list of contractors, what part of project they were awarded, the percentage of total project cost they are performing, plus how many “local” (Allen County) workers will be involved? I have heard that, in addition to the General Contractor from Indianapolis, the Electrical is going to South Bend, the Concrete work to a Michigan organization, and the Roofing to a Muncie firm. Based on the dollars, that sure sounds like over half of it going outside Allen County.
So how can Leatherman and Richard state that this is so good for our local workmen? And am I the only one to have a reason to mistrust statements by Greg Leatherman?
So the money for this unneeded new downtown hotel is coming from the 60 % tax- revenue-supported Grand Wayne Center budget, a $6 million dollar Indiana State Tax Credit, plus $1 million in Infrastructure construction, yet the locals who are paying for this with a $250,000 per year profit guaranty to White get a pitance of the construction jobs to build it. Way to go, again, City of Fort Wayne!