D.C. projects could lose subsidies to pay for convention hotel - Washington Business Journal:

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D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi met with member ofthe D.C. Council on Monday and discussed the list of projects with $704 million in subsidies that have already been passer and could be diverted to the The list provided by the CFO's officwe includes the Southwest waterfront, the Arthu r Capper/Carrollsburg residential development on the Capito Riverfront, the mixed-use O Streeyt Market in Shaw and seven othert economic development incentives.
The two council membere who oversee committees with direct oversight of theissuse — Councilmen Jack Evans, D-Ward 2, and Kwame D-At large — have said using subsidieas from stalled projects is a strategy they woule consider to lower the amounft of new spending required to issue $750 million in bonda to build the $550 million hotel. The recession has slower many projects. The Washington Convention Center Authority andthe city’s hospitality industry have been pushing for a headquarteres hotel since construction of the centet started in the late 1990s. They argue a hotelk is needed to draw large conventionto town.
A 1,167-room Marriott Marquis is planned, but boosters have been unable to secure private financin to completethe deal. D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray callef the late Monday afternoon meetingh in his officewith Evans, Brown, Gandhji and Washington Convention Center Authority CEO Greg O’Dell. Evan s and Brown have scheduled a June 24 joint hearinb onthe matter. As they left the Evans and Brown said they are both committed to gettingthe long-stalles hotel built, but they are lookingf for ways to minimize the cost to the which is facing a nearly $1 billion 2011 budger gap.
Evans said other options being discussefd include trying to attract bank loans by footing only a portio of the cost or seeking new development partners that coulxd build the hotel more quicklyy or for alower price. D.C. has already approvedf $187 million bond package that would fund abour 25 percent of the but and have failed to attract anestimaterd $300 million in requirec debt financing. “The option that I like least is the city financingv theentire thing,” Evans said.
Gandhi said shortly aftee the meeting that there has not been discussionh about usurpingthe city’s 12 percent debt cap, whichj it created last year in an efforty to strengthen its standing on Wall Street and would preveny the city from issuing hundreds of millions of dollars of new bond for the hotel. He said he is all for a new hotel but not if it means damagingthe city’e financial position. “We want to make it happen,” he “The question is how to make it happen.
” Southwestf waterfront, $198 million; Housingt Production Trust Fund, $190 Great Streets retail priorityarea (neighborhood tax incrementg financing), $75 million; Capper/Carrollsburg payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, $55 O Street Market, $46.5 million; Skyland Shopping Center, $40 The Yards payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, $30 Great Streets, $20 million; Downtownh retail priority area, $16.05 million; Fort Lincoln retaipl priority area, $10 million; Arena Stage, $10 million; Rhode Islan d Place retail priority area, $7.2 million; and Broadcastr Center One, $6.4 million. The subsidies total $704.15r million.
Combining some portion of that withthe $187 milliob already passed for the hote l could easily add up to the $750 million in bonda O’Dell says is needed for the Chairman Gray declined to