The Grand Haven City Council last night approved a measure that moves forward a bond-financed plan to build a Hilton hotel and a convention center on a large waterfront development in the western Michigan city.
The City Council approved two measures for the proposal, including one that authorizes the creation of a nonprofit organization that would issue the bonds — around $20 million worth, according to local reports — and oversee the construction and operation of the project, said council member John Naser. Another measure approves a feasibility study for the project.
Under the so-called 63-20 financing plan, a nonprofit organization would oversee the project from construction to operation until the bonds are paid off. The involvement of the nonprofit organization allows the bonds to be tax-exempt. After the debt is paid off the property would automatically be owned by the city, which could then move to sell it to a private entity, Naser said.
The project would be built on a 20-acre site located along the Grand River’s south channel that already includes a commercial and residential development called Grand Landing. Under the plan, Grand Landing LLC would sell the land to a private company that plans to build a 125-bed Hilton Garden Inn and a 15,000-square-foot convention center, according to reports.
Hotel and convention center revenues would pay off the bonds.
“Our next step will be to is to have an unbiased fiscal feasibility study done and then based on results of that it will be determined what will happen next,” Naser said.
