Developer pulling out of Backstreet hotel project

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Jun 14, 2003 Source: AP / TuscaloosaNews.com Submitted By: Gina The Associated Press Unhappy with the city's incentives offer, a developer says he's pulling out of a hotel project for downtown Huntsville that included the Backstreet Boys. Martin Belz, chairman of Memphis-based Peabody Hotel Group, said his firm's offer to build a full-service hotel next to the Von Braun Center was off "unless the city changes their mind about what they're going to do." Belz said the city's $37 million incentive package was not enough "in terms of the quality and the type of hotel we would want to do." The city's offer includes a 2.5-acre site, meeting and parking space, and road improvements. Belz's comments Thursday came shortly after Kevin Richardson of the Backstreet Boys and Rick Baker of Huntsville, Richardson's financial adviser, met with a couple dozen business leaders to rally support for a project that would include a hotel and entertainment center. "We have everything squared away with that property," Richardson told The Huntsville Times, referring to the Heart of Huntsville at MarketSquare mall, the proposed site for the entertainment center. "We're kind of waiting to see how the hotel negotiations are going to go, before anything else, because the hotel could and would play a big part in the entire project," Richardson said. On Thursday, Richardson and fellow Backstreet Boy Howie Dorough held a press conference at Madison Square Mall to talk about their vision for the entertainment center, which would be similar but a bit smaller than Peabody Place in Memphis. Peabody was one of eight developers to submit letters of interest to the city for a downtown hotel. The city is still looking at financial and other information submitted by all the companies before asking a few finalists to submit bids, said Joe Vallely, the city's economic development director. Comment on this item. Recent Comments Submitted by: Jennifer Submitted by: Mary Submitted by: Louise Submitted by: Eugene Submitted by: Antony Submitted by: Louise Comment on this item. Next Item: Backstreet Hotel Out Prev Item: Backstreet Boy launching Louisville music school