A hotel development is moving forward even without city incentives.
On Tuesday, the Common Council denied the formation of TID #12 which would have granted Prairie Lodging LLC a $750,000 incentive paid back to the city over a 20 year period for the creation of $5.2 million Hampton Inn & Suites at 400 W. Upham Street, the site of the now-closed Knights of Columbus Hall.
The TIF district would also have allowed the City to make improvements to be made up to a 1/2 mile radius, including mill and overlay on Upham Street, storm sewer on Leonhard Street, and adding a curb, gutter and sidewalk on Leonhard Street and Fig Ave.
“We all were under the impression that the developer might not stay [if the TID didn’t pass.] The developer the following day said they are going to stay. They are going to continue to bring the hotel to Marshfield,” said Mayor Bob McManus.
There are additional steps the developer will need to take before the development, a 4-story, 86 room hotel, can proceed.
“It still has to go through the Plan Commission, and still has to get eventual approval from the Common Council,” said the mayor.
At Tuesday’s Common Council meeting, local hotel owners voiced their concerns about the TIF district during the public hearing and stated that room occupancy hovers around 60% on average.
A potential challenge for the development is the granting of a liquor license, a requirement of the Hampton franchise agreement. A liquor license may not be issued within 300 feet of the main entrance of any church, school, or hospital, unless waived by a majority vote of the governing body.
A motion to modify the regulations to allow more flexibility in where customer entrances for a hotel can be located also failed.
“At this point we understand that they’re going to continue on with the project,” said McManus.
