Despite recent reports of a shortfall in covering the cost of a brand-name hotel at the Pine Bluff Convention Center, the committee tasked with bringing a Courtyard by Marriott to the location announced its resolve to stay the course.
Pine Bluff Public Facilities Committee President Letrece Harris urged her cohort to stick with the project during a meeting over Zoom on Thursday afternoon. The committee approved payments of $475,000 to CHASM Architecture of Atlanta (for project documents) and $44,887 to The P3 Group of Memphis (for civil engineering fees).
The payments are for the city to continue with its plans for the 125-bed Marriott, which is to be constructed from the ground up to replace the decaying former Plaza Hotel on the west side of the Convention Center.
“I’m believing the Marriott hotel will be in existence in the city of Pine Bluff within the next two years,” Harris said. “With that, that also requires a team effort. It’s not just the Pine Bluff Public Facilities board. There’s also the development team. There’s the hospitality team. There’s Farmers [State Bank of Illinois, which is providing a U.S. Department of Agriculture-backed loan to the committee]. There’s USDA. There are a lot of people involved that are critical to seeing this happen. A lot has been invested to see that it comes to pass.”
A few weeks ago, Convention Center Executive Director Joseph McCorvey said the $24 million project lacked $1.4 million to be finalized due to an increase in the initial hotel bid. The Public Facilities Committee secured a 32-year, $18-million loan from Farmers, but McCorvey explained $1.4 million is needed to cover demolition of the Plaza Hotel, as well as architect and administrative fees.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“We’re at a critical point where our developers are working on certain financial aspects of the project to make sure this happens,” Harris said.
What those financial aspects consist of is a question yet to be answered, and Harris said she did not know the full details.
“All I know is that the project is still on the table,” Harris said. “They are working to try to see that it comes to fruition, and right now, the responsibility of the board is just to handle the business to make sure that we do what we’re supposed to until we close.”
The board had expected to close on the loan by March 31, but the USDA has guaranteed 80% of the loan through September.
“We’re at a point where the cost of construction between the time when we were actually financed the USDA [loan] through Farmers [and] the cost of construction actually went up,” Harris said. “… Yes, you probably could say that was something we should have kept up with.”
Project legal counsel Gordon Wilbourn said P3 is exploring different options for coming up with the needed $1.4 million. Wilbourn said in February Pine Bluff will have no liability for the hotel if the project falls through.
However, none of the entities involved in the project have walked away from it, Wilbourn clarified.
“This project will happen,” Harris reiterated. “We are working to make that happen. We believe the community deserves a project that represents the city of Pine Bluff. It’s just a matter of financial logistics that need to be taken care of to see that this project comes to pass.”
She then cautioned it will be known in two or three months whether the project still has the green light.