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By Gerald Witt, The Knoxville
News-Sentinel, Tenn.McClatchy-Tribune Regional News
April 04, 2012--Knoxville City Council approved $600,000 in incentives Tuesday night for a hotel owner to redevelop a hotel near the University of Tennessee into a Hilton Garden Inn. Plans for the project and its financing will next go to the Industrial Development Board. Nick Lakha, president of Atlanta-based Paramount Hospitality Management, which is leading the development, said that the 8-1 vote by City Council was support for his work to rehab the former Days Inn Campus, something he called "an eyesore." Councilman Finbarr Saunders voted no after lengthy debate. "Can I change my vote?" he asked after hearing how his colleagues voted. Lakha said construction is expected to start by summer on the $16 million project. He hopes the 112-room hotel will open by the middle of 2013. An expected 150 construction jobs will be created, with 40 new full-time hotel jobs. The incentive is called a five-year payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, incentive. That means that Lakha's group will pay the current bill of $40,000 in city and county property taxes at the hotel, and after five years that bill will increase to $160,000. The Hilton Garden Inn on Lake Avenue is expected to fit in with the upcoming redevelopment of Cumberland Avenue next to UT campus. "We think it would help us kick-start the Cumberland Avenue project," said Bob Whetsel, Knoxville's director of redevelopment. In other business, City Council voted unanimously to refinance bonds worth $95 million that's expected to save $1.26 million in bond payments each year. Council also approved four ordinances that enable more options for the city to fight blighted properties and a resolution to go to TVA to ask the public utility to revisit its policy for cutting trees. "We want to heighten your sensitivity to the issue," Saunders said. ___ (c)2012 the Knoxville News-Sentinel (Knoxville, Tenn.) Visit the Knoxville News-Sentinel (Knoxville, Tenn.) at www.knoxnews.com Distributed by MCT Information Services |
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