The Pine Bluff Advertising and Promotion Commission accepted a resolution Wednesday afternoon to assist the City of Pine Bluff in their purchase of the Plaza Hotel, located at the Pine Bluff Convention Center.
Following approximately 45 minutes of debate a 5-1 vote was cast by the commission in favor of the resolution.
With their vote the A&P Commission agreed to support the establishment of a convention center and hotel complex, to support the design and cost estimate phase of the hotel, to consider allocating a portion of tax dollars to satisfy the debt service, and to be relieved of any financial responsibility associated with the hotel if the hotel generates a net income that is above what is required to service the debt.
Commissioner Bill Moss was the only commissioner to vote against the resolution, citing the lack of a feasibility study, in addition to disagreeing with Commission Chair Rosie Pettigrew who called the resolution a non-binding agreement.
“This resolution, the chair may say it’s non-binding,” said Moss, “but it in effect puts out the intent to obligate, financially, this commission to amounts unknown. It is just a blue sky with a blank check.”
The Pine Bluff Urban Renewal Agency has agreed to purchase the hotel for $1.2 million and turn it over to the convention center for renovation. Maurice Taggart, Director of the Urban Renewal Agency, noted that one of the central tenets of the urban renewal plan is to revitalize the designated urban renewal area. That area includes the hotel and convention center.
“This is a great opportunity for us here in Pine Bluff,” said Taggart. “One of the biggest issues we have had as of late relates to the hotel. It is hard to bring those conventions in when you have a hotel that is not in such a great shape and in a dilapidated state. This is a major step towards renovating the hotel and making the urban renewal area more livable for the constituents here in Pine Bluff.”
Taggart said that having a quality hotel in operation will help with tax revenue in Pine Bluff.
“This has been one of the biggest issues that my board has always talked about in terms of revitalizing the urban renewal area. It is a big piece that relates to it,” Taggart said. “We did some research and when I felt the time was right to bring it before the board, they made the decision. I think the decision to purchase it is going to go a long way towards increasing the tax revenue here in the city of Pine Bluff, and we are excited about it.”
Pine Bluff Mayor Shirley Washington said the ‘wheels are in motion’ to improve on tourism in Pine Bluff.
“The wheels are in motion and we are very excited about this,” Washington said. “I think this is an opportunity for Pine Bluff to expand on its tourism. One of the things that has held Mr. McCorvey at the Convention Center hostage is that we do not have a Convention Center hotel in good operating condition. We think this is going to turn that around.”
Pine Bluff Convention Center Director Joseph McCorvey is looking forward to working to revitalize the hotel in hopes of attracting new conventions and entertainment to Pine Bluff.
“This move is a tribute to those people who had the vision to create the first convention center complex in the State of Arkansas 43 years ago,” said McCorvey. “This takes it to the next phase. That hotel it crucial to the success of this convention center, and for the city of Pine Bluff in terms of recruiting conventions, sporting events, and other events that can have an economic impact on the city of Pine Bluff.”
McCorvey expect a 20-month process to complete both the purchase and renovation of the hotel.
“This finalizes in six months, so by March or April we expect to close this deal and have ownership of the hotel,” McCorvey said. “Hopefully by then we have things in place in terms of financing for the project for renovations to be starting and to get the other owners out of the picture on this. We are hoping to begin renovations as soon as we take ownership of the hotel. One we have ownership and financing in place we intend to go straight away with the project. It is going to take roughly 14 months to completely renovate the hotel from what the consultants told us because of the excessive work needed. We have 200 rooms that need renovated.”
