Durant Hotel

[pachucoboy]

Durant Hotel proposal makes some commissioners nervous

Posted by Ron Fonger April 08, 2007 13:30PM

Categories: Genesee County

GENESEE COUNTY -- County taxpayers might end up on the hook for money borrowed to help renovate the Durant Hotel, a $23-million project that some county commissioners worry might be too much of a gamble.

The Board of Commissioners has tentatively scheduled a public hearing on the issue for May 8, part of the process of deciding whether to put the full faith and credit of the county behind $7.3 million in new borrowing for the county Brownfield Redevelopment Authority. Bonds would pay for the Durant work and other county Land Bank Authority work.

Land Bank officials still haven't have not decided to go forward with the Durant project, but they have been inching in that direction since purchasing the building in 2005.

County Treasurer Daniel T. Kildee said the Land Bank won't move ahead with the $23-million renovation, including more than $4 million in public money, unless the property ends up in the hands of a private, tax-paying developer and officials agree that the plan is feasible.

"How much public money is going to go into that building?" asked Commissioner Rose Bogardus, D-Davison. "It's sat there half my life -- longer than that. I can't remember the Durant Hotel even having been open. I'm concerned about putting that many tax dollars (behind that) building."

Read the complete story Monday in The Flint Journal.

[ZachariahDaMan]

A little bit closer to redevelopment...

http://www.mlive.com/news/flintjournal/ind...&thispage=1