Sept. 06–MERIDIAN — City officials are looking over plans by a developer to build two new hotels in Meridian.
John Tampa of Ascent Hospitality Management Co. met with the Meridian City Council on Tuesday to go over plans and ask for help with the project.
Tampa announced in August that he wants to build a Marriot Fairfield Inn and Suites; a Marriott TownePlace Suites, an office building and two restaurants on a 16-acre site off of 1-20 near Cracker Barrel in Meridian. Each hotel would have 80 units.
John McClure, director of Community Development for the city of Meridian, said Tampa was requesting support from the city to move the project forward.
“What we talked about today is a maximum of $400,000, which would probably be funded through TIF (tax increment financing) so they wouldn’t go against the general obligation bonds in the city,” McClure said. “It would be paid from new tax revenue generated by the project (i.e. water, sewer, an access road and lightening). If we put it all in under $400,000 it will be less. If it costs more, Mr. Tampa will be responsible.”
McClure said he thinks this is a good investment that will generate more money for the city of Meridian.
“I think it fits into our overall strategy of trying to bring more people into the community, have them spend money,” McClure said. “While they’re here, we get their monies, we generate tax revenue and we only need to provide police and fire protection while they’re here.”
The next step in the process will be finalizing rights of way so that they can complete the design of the road. After the design phase, they will determine the cost of the road, water and sewer, he said.
The city council heard Tampa’s request; it will be up the them to decide what help they can give to the project.
“We’ll have to get those pieces finalized before we can go back to the council,” McClure said. “They’re going to want to know all the pieces are in place. We’ve been working with Mr. Tampa’s engineer, Mr. Dabbs, and they’re working on finalizing the design of both the roads and the water and sewer. Once those are completed, we can get cost estimates.”
In his proposal, Tampa asked for help from the city on the project, including:
Construction of new access road to the property with city maintaining service after the construction is completed. The developer will pay the engineer to help design the road.
Provide light poles for lighting the road.
Provide water and sewer to the site.
Provide monument sign for the entire development.
The project will create more than 90 temporary jobs during the construction of all projects for approximately 24 months, Tampa said.
