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Show Chicago developer may not meet today's deadline on Marsac hotel by CHRISTOPHER SMART Record staff writer The proposed Marsac Hotel, a 260-room 260-room project planned to overlook Main Street, may not be built by a Chicago development firm, which signed an option agreement with the Park City Redevelopment Agency (RDA) last August. First National Realty and Development Company must present a preliminary architectural model of the hotel to the RDA board of directors May 30 in order to meet the terms of the contract. City officials have received a letter from the firm's president, Demetrios Dela Portis, asking for an extension of the deadline. But at a May 23 work session, the Park City Council, which also sits as the RDA board, decided deadlines laid out in the agreement must be met. The RDA board holds a $25,000 letter of credit from Dela Portis that will fall into the RDA's coffers if First National Realty doesn't meet its obligation. If the hotel proposal, planned for the site of the old Marsac Mill between Swede Alley and Marsac Avenue, runs aground, it will be the second such failure this season for the RDA. Last month, Taylor Grant, a Newport Beach, Calif, developer, informed the RDA he was not ready to go forward with the agency's Upper Main Street Project. That proposal allows Grant to build 30,000 square feet of commercial space above 150 parking spaces. The Upper Main Street Project was delayed a year ago when a soil survey revealed building on the southern extremities of the RDA's parcel, which is across the street from the Treasure Mountain Inn, would exceed estimates. That project has since been delayed a number of times and no new timetable has been introduced to replace the original one. The RDA board has learned its lesson about extending deadlines, according to City Councilman Bob Wells. He said extending the Marsac Hotel deadline would result in the project being delayed at least one full year due to Park City's short construction season. According to the terms of the agreement, Dela Portis and First National Realty would receive the Marsac parcel in exchange for 200 parking spaces to be built on the site. The firm would build another 180 spaces to accommodate hotel patrons. If Dela Portis is not ready with a proposal this week, the RDA board will begin to investigate other means to develop the ground, Wells said. The municipality has earmarked 5, $100,000 in its annual Capital Improvements Budget to excavate and pave 83 parking spaces on the RDA's parcel north of the Marsac Municipal Building until a project is constructed there. That parking is planned to be in place by ski season. The city has asked First National Realty to share those costs since the firm would have to excavate the site in order to build its parkinghotel project. However, the firm has not responded to the request, according to city officials. |