April 17, 2013--Fourteen days might have bought Norfolk's City Council more than a new, swank hotel and conference center.

It might have bought public confidence that the city had thoroughly investigated concerns from the existing downtown hotels that a new competitor would cannibalize the market rather than grow it.

It might have bought comfort for council members who had just a few days to study the details of a 117-page deal.

It might have bought time to convince skeptical residents that the $89 million city investment would, eventually, be good for the city.

Instead, the City Council ignored pleas to slow down and breathe before taking a vote to move ahead with one of Norfolk's largest public-private projects.

So in addition to a new, swank hotel, the city bought itself a fresh wave of distrust.

Not one of the people who requested a brief period of consideration for the project advocated killing it.

Mayor Paul Fraim's protestations that long gestation kills deals like the one to build this hotel seem hollow in light of the fact that the city has yet to close a deal with The Cordish Cos.

Nearly a year ago, Cordish won city approval for its proposal to refurbish Norfolk's worn Waterside building.

Cordish's plan calls for putting up the entire $28 million cost, with the only public subsidy coming through tax incentives.

Of the two projects, it seems the rush would be on for the one that does not require tens of millions of dollars from the city. Get that nailed down, before it gets away.

Two weeks would not have convinced everyone that this deal with Virginia Beach developer Bruce Thompson was the right deal.

Two hundred years would not have convinced some of those folks.

Two weeks seems a small but crucial delay for a city that has been planning a hotel conference center project for the better part of a decade.

Two weeks seems a small delay for a city that has twice had hopes for the project dashed when developers failed to keep promises in the face of untenable financing.

If this deal lacked strength to survive two weeks of scrutiny, perhaps that was the best argument against rushing to a vote.

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