Boutique hotel seeking $468,000 in CCDC incentives

A deal is underway for $468,000 in urban renewal subsidies for the 110-room Inn at 500 Capitol boutique hotel proposed for the southeast corner of Myrtle Street and Capitol Boulevard.

The Capital City Development Corp. is expected to approve the subsidy in August to reimburse hotel developer Obie Development Partners for the cost of improvements in or near the public right-of-way.

Obie is requesting $203,000 in streetscape reimbursements for trees, sidewalks and furnishings and Silva Cell underground frameworks for the trees. The Eugene, Ore.,-based developer also seeks $115,000 for public easement improvements, including the sidewalks, trees, benches and art elements. Another $150,000 would go for utility line relocations, said Shellan Rodriguez, CCDC’s project manager for property development.

These grants involve overlapping programs for projects that CCDC conceivably would have done itself and non-CCDC projects.

Obie would not be reimbursed for the streetscape work until Fiscal Year 2017 after the work is completed. CCDC would reimburse Obie for the utility relocation and easement improvements over a four-year period after the work is completed, Rodriguez said.

Obie Development President Brian Obie said groundbreaking for the seven-story, $25-million project may come in December. Obie had initially predicted a late summer groundbreaking.

CCDC’s public-private financial participation programs are part of the urban redevelopment agency’s efforts to stimulate downtown development with public infrastructure investments.