Sep. 6, 2003 - The city of Grand Prairie would pay as much as $81 million for a convention center next to the Wildflower Resort hotel and golf complex at Joe Pool Lake under an agreement approved by City Council members.

But the exact amount will depend largely on how successful management is in getting hotel beds filled.

And developers get nothing until the four-star resort is open, city officials said.

"It's not a set amount; it is based on a formula," City Attorney Don Postell said. "I can't really say it's going to be $81 million. If ... [Wildflower Resort Co. president and CEO Raymond J. Goad] does really well, he'll make a lot of money on it. I hope he does, because that means the city's doing very well."

Wildflower and its investors will pay the upfront costs on the project, and the city will buy the conference center once the facility is built, according to the development agreement approved Tuesday.

The city will issue about $250,000 in bonds to pay for some minor planning and development costs, but the bulk of the city's contribution will come from hotel/motel tax and tax increment financing district revenues.

The $200 million resort project is to include a four-star hotel featuring 500 luxury guest rooms, 12 stand-alone villas, a spa and fitness center, a 75,000-square-foot convention center and 36 holes of golf, including a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course and the first golf course to be designed by golfer Sergio Garcia.

It is to be built on 925 acres on the Estes Peninsula at Joe Pool Lake.

Wildflower Resort Co. will develop and build the complex and own all but the conference center, which the city will buy when construction is complete, then lease back to the developer.

The InterContinental Hotel Group will manage the hotel and conference center as one entity. The hotel will operate under the name InterContinental Wildflower Hotel. The convention center will bear the city's name.

Troon Golf will manage the golf courses.

To pay for the conference center, the city will return to the developer eight-ninths of the bed tax the hotel generates and, until the tax increment financing district expires in December 2019, most of the property tax revenues generated by the project.

"The structure allows all the money the city is putting into the project to be self-generated," City Manager Tom Hart said. "The risk factor is zero. If we don't get the money, we don't pay. It's a very safe structure."

The adoption of the developer agreement was a milestone for city officials, who have seen several development companies come forth with resort plans for the peninsula but fail to get the financing or otherwise fall short in their efforts to develop the site.

"Mr. Goad looks like he is really on the downhill side of the huge project of putting that thing together, particularly from a financial angle," council member Jim Swafford said. "I'm re-energized, recharged, thinking this thing is going to be a reality."

Mr. Goad said financing is nearly complete on the project, and he expects it to be under construction by year's end.

Under the development agreement, the project must be complete by Dec. 31, 2005.

Earlier negotiations on the city's agreement with Wildflower centered on the city paying for the conference center with about $41 million in bonds, officials said.

"We were asked to be creative and look at some possible alternatives... that are not paid by the taxpayers in the city, but created from revenues from the resort that [without its development] otherwise might not ever be created," Mr. Goad said. "At first that was bad news. We were kind of counting on that $41 million of bond money."

But he said the deal as it has been approved saved millions of dollars in interest costs, avoided using taxpayer dollars and has generated positive response in the financing industry.

"As I have shared this concept we have worked out... I get a universal nod of approval as to the good sense this makes, and I am happy to tell you tonight that it is being extremely well-received by the financial institutions we're dealing with," Mr. Goad told the council last week. "I think the way we've done this is going to be copied in the hospitality industry."

Once the hotel, golf courses and convention center are complete, the city and developer will create a Resort Executive Committee to oversee the operations of the resort.

At that time, the city and developer also will finalize agreements regarding city and school district access to the facilities. The Grand Prairie and Cedar Hill schools will have limited use of the golf courses, and students will have an opportunity to participate in culinary classes at the hotel.

The city will have five complimentary room nights per month, which includes a 50 percent discount on food and drinks, for economic development purposes. The city also will get discounts on use of the golf courses, hotel and other facilities, and rent-free use up to twice a year of the convention center, according to the agreement.

As financing is wrapping up on the resort and convention center project, the developers are moving forward with a proposed entertainment complex adjacent to the resort.

Wildflower has retained Design Workshop, a national planning and architectural firm, to study the development of the 350,000-square-foot entertainment and shopping area, which could include a boardwalk with specialty restaurants and boutiques, a movie theater, a bowling alley, an ice-skating rink, an indoor carousel, a Ferris wheel and more.

"We're getting really excited about that, too," Mr. Goad said. "It will be a destination in the metroplex."

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