| By Brenden Sager, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News Apr. 28, 2005 - For Marietta's City Council, it doesn't get any better than this. A firm has agreed to pay the city $2.3 million a year to take over a project that the city has lost money on for nearly a decade. Wednesday evening, the council voted unanimously to allow Dallas-based Remington Hotels Corp. to rent the Marietta Resort and Conference Center under a lease that could last up to 18 years. Not only has the city staunched the red ink, it'll receive an additional 3 percent of gross revenues over Remington's $14 million sales goal. And once the center's note is paid off in 2023, the city gets to hold on to the asset. For its part, Remington gets to draw from a $960,000 city fund held in reserve for maintenance and upgrades. Jack McHugh, vice president of Remington Hotels, also was pleased. The negotiations, which have lasted nearly a year, "really did turn out to be a win-win. It's a very complicated lease. It's not like leasing a Subway [sandwich] shop," he said Wednesday. The $27 million center, on Powder Springs Street less than a mile from the Marietta Square, costs the city $2.2 million in finance charges every year, which Remington will pay under the new lease. The deal will go into effect in June. The city will continue to operate the golf course located on the site, which McHugh said was another advantage to attracting conferences.
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