Important meeting coming up for the Holiday Inn project (from the IJ)
City Watch: Meeting set on Ithaca Holiday Inn site plan
4:37 PM, Aug 11, 2013
Written by
David Hill
The City of Ithaca has scheduled a public information session on the proposed reconstruction of what will soon be the hotel formerly known as the Holiday Inn.
The meeting is scheduled at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 19 in Common Council chambers on the third floor of City Hall, 108 E. Green St.
Hart Hotels seeks to transform the Holiday Inn at 222 S. Cayuga St., at the southwest corner with Green Street. The Buffalo-based company plans to leave the existing tower but tear down three guestroom wings, add a new tower and expand the meeting space from 4,000 square feet to 15,000, with a new 6,000-square-foot ballroom.
City officials and the Downtown Ithaca Partnership have enthusiastically welcomed the expansion of meeting space to attract conventions.
Hart filed an application for the city’s Community Investment Tax Abatement Program. This is the program under which the Marriott hotel planned for the Commons’ east end won an abatement package in March. The Tompkins County Industrial Development Agency oversees it, but the city must endorse the application.
The standard city property tax abatement reduces the tax on the increased property value for seven years. The break is 90 percent in the project’s first year on the rax rolls then decreases equally over the rest of the seven years. An available enhanced abatement begins at 100 percent in the first year and decreases over 10 years. The IDA may also abate sales taxes on construction materials, equipment and funishings, and exempt the state portion of the mortgage recording tax.
In its application, Hart notes that its Holiday Inn license expires Nov. 1, and the hotel will be renamed. In addition to the convention and ballroom space, it is to have a rooftop entertainment complex doubling as an event venue and evening lounge with an urban club atmosphere. It’s to have workforce housing on the ground floor for 15 employees.
The project will preserve 90 existing jobs and create the need for 25 new ones, Hart said in its application.
A new tower will match the 100-foot height of the existing tower, which is to be renovated. Hart pegs the total cost at $17.8 million. It expects to close the hotel in November for construction, reopening partially in April, then opening the complete new hotel in March 2015.
Here's the link:
http://www.ithacajournal.com/article...-Inn-site-plan