Mason City council to hold public hearing tonight on downtown hotel development agreement
MASON CITY — The City Council in Mason City tonight will hold a public hearing and then vote on whether or not to approve a development agreement for the hotel portion of the River City Renaissance project.
The city has been working on finalizing an agreement with ES 2024 Mason City Hotel Associates, an LLC connected to Kinseth Hospitality Corporation, to start construction on a downtown hotel later this year. Kinseth has told city officials they want to have construction start in mid-August as they had all but finalized their plans for the hotel.
Mayor Bill Schickel says the redevelopment of the Riverwalk area and the proposal to make the old Younkers space in Southbridge Mall into a convention space was key in Kinseth Properties being a part of the project. “This is another example of when we were talking to Kinseth Properties about doing this great development, you know the fact that we’re developing this riverfront was part of closing that deal. Having a convention center that seats better than 400 people, there’s a lot of convention centers, but when your community has a center that is unique, that has this kind of history and legacy, it really makes a huge difference. I’m delighted we’re moving forward with that.”
The development agreement has three key parts: a 100% tax rebate for the first five years and 50% for the last five years; a $2 million loan with 4% interest but no interest for the first three years; and a $2 million loan guarantee which was not in the original draft of the agreement earlier this year.
The council meets tonight at 7 o’clock in the Mason City Room at the Public Library.
