Quote:
Originally Posted by combusean
If the Berger proposal was recommended because of hotel rooms it’s because of the occupancy tax received by the city. The RFP is scored in part by economic return to the city. Has nothing to do with the Super Bowl.
|
I see in the Berger proposal that the hotel is supposed to be a Hyatt brand, but I couldn't see what Hines hotel was supposed to be or if they had it listed. There is a difference of 48 rooms between the 2 proposals (Hines - 352 and Berger - 400). The Phoenix occupancy tax is 5.3% so without knowing what the 2 hotels would be charging per room night I don't see how it's possible to know which has the greater economic impact or if they'd be close to equal as far as that component goes.
Also Hines projects a total of 2,016 permanent jobs (1,095 direct and 922 indirect/induced) while Berger estimates 335 permanent jobs (no breakdown). It seems that more than 6 times as many permanent jobs would be of more value to the city than the extra 48 hotel rooms, but maybe not since I'm no economist.
As you said earlier this is only a recommendation to the council and hasn't been voted on yet, so who knows what will actually happen? It seems backwards to me that the Phoenix Community and Economic Development Department is negotiating with the proposer before city council approval. This could all be a waste of everyone's time (again as you said) if the council rejects the recommendation and goes with Hines instead.