NEW ORLEANS— The developers of a 33-story, 650-room Westin Hotel proposed for the World Trade Center here as part of a mixed-use project may get an 10-day extension to complete terms of its deal with the city, if the executive committee of the New Orleans Building Corp. gives them the thumbs up following a meeting scheduled for later today. The meeting, originally scheduled for April 30, will occur today instead at 4:30 p.m. to allow public notice in accordance with open-meetings laws, according to a report in The Times-Picayune. Sean Cummings, interim director of the building corporation, which owns the property, is expected to propose extending yesterday’s deadline for a deal— under development since 1998— to May 10, a proposal the City Council also must ratify, indicated the report. WTC Development LLC, formerly known as Burk-Kleinpeter/Sisung/M.H.H. LLC and Cummings have been meeting over the deal, which was negotiated under the administration of former Mayor Marc Morial, and is now under review by the current administration, the report said. Competing hotel operators and others such as the Bureau of Government Research have expressed concern over a special tax deal that would allow the developers to funnel proceeds of the hotel-motel tax generated at the proposed hotel to paying about $30 million worth of bonds on the $140 million project. Deal supporters indicated such an arrangement is necessary to push the project, adding the city doesnt benefit unless the property is built, said the report. The hotel would occupy the lower floors of the building, with the upper floors designated for office space. The World Trade Center organization donated the building to the city and pays $1 a year in rent. It expects to use a few floors until its lease expires in 2019. SOURCE: The Times-Picayune
