Crane Coming Down
Renaissance Developer Says New One Will Take Its Place
Last updated Tuesday, June 17, 2008 10:18 PM CDT in News
By Skip Descant
The Morning News
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FAYETTEVILLE - The skyline in downtown soon will change when a 280-foot construction crane comes down in the next two weeks.
But it won't be for long. Developers of a 18-story 200-room Marriott hotel are in negotiations to put up another crane on the site, this one cheaper but just as tall, said John Nock, a developer with East Square Development.
"The lease had expired and we're negotiating a new lease," said Nock, who could not say for certain when a new crane will be erected. The crane at the corner of North College Avenue and Mountain Street has been in place for 18 months. In that time the project has stalled, although Nock says it's not going away.
"Our plan is to stay on schedule," said Nock. "Our 2010 date is a good date," he added about the project's completion date, although he's not sure when construction will begin.
"We're not releasing any dates of when we'll start," said Nock.
The developers offered to buy the crane, but were unable to agree on a purchase price with the crane's owner. East Square is now in purchase or lease negotiations with other crane suppliers, and expect to find the same piece of equipment at a cheaper price because of the slowdown in the building market.
"It's a supply-and-demand issue. There's a greater supply of them now, so they're cheaper," said Nock.
Downturns in the overall building market are not necessarily resulting in a slowdown for downtown, said Nock.
"Everything in the downtown area is staying strong," he added.
He said Marriott, the umbrella company of Renaissance Hotels, remains committed.
"They know that robust cycles as well as less-than-robust cycles come and go," he remarked.
Local business owners remain optimistic the project eventually will happen.
"It's divided," said Fernando Miranda, owner of Mariachi's, a Mexican restaurant near the project, when asked about confidence in the project. Miranda has had the Center Street restaurant for the past two years, and says weekends are his busiest days.
"Some people are saying, with it taking that long, it's never going to be built," said Miranda, who added, "I'm concerned about it, but," his voice trailing.
What Miranda is sure about is what the hotel and all of the downtown development will mean for reviving blocks like his, which is dotted with vacant storefronts.
"It's going to mean a lot of people in the area, and we need more people," Miranda remarked.
The Renaissance Tower hotel and condominium project began with the city of Fayetteville establishing one of the state's first Tax Increment Financing districts and issuing $3.7 million in bonds to tear down the old Mountain Inn. TIF districts are often used as an economic incentive by local governments to entice development in depressed areas or provide the infrastructure needed to support new development. The bonds are paid off later by the increased property and sales taxes the completed project generates.
Since Renaissance Tower has been on hold, East Square has been making monthly payments of $22,042 to Fayetteville for failure to begin the project on time.
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UAfootball wrote on Jun 18, 2008 10:34 AM: