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City plans to go solo on hotel purchase
By JENNIFER GOLDBLATT, Times Staff Writer NEW PORT RICHEY -- City leaders plan to buy the Hacienda Hotel -- without any assistance from the state. That gives them the freedom to turn the 75-year-old landmark into a revenue-generating restaurant, hotel, or retail complex that could spark downtown redevelopment. The Hacienda's current use as a home for the mentally ill "is a bad mix for our community" City Council member Tom Finn said at a meeting Tuesday evening. The city should have the Hacienda "returned to the community as a restaurant, a ballroom, offices, or the chamber, so that people can enter that structure." Gulf Coast Community Care has said that it would take roughly $2.5-million to relocate its residents to another site. The city will likely borrow the money to buy the hotel and pay it back with proceeds from the Redevelopment Trust Fund. That fund, which is made up of tax dollars earmarked for redevelopment, is expected to reach $153-million over the next 30 years. The state had offered New Port Richey a matching grant of up to $1-million to help buy the Hacienda. But that grant would have required the city to use the 25,000-square-foot building for a public museum or outdoor recreation center that would not generate revenue. The grant would not have allowed the city to put the Hacienda to commercial use, so the city would have had to bear the annual operation and maintenance costs. Last year, Gulf Coast spent $186,000 to maintain the facility. City Council members, sitting as directors of the Community Redevelopment Agency, unanimously voted to turn down the state grant at Tuesday's meeting. But they want to pursue the building on their own. Council members said they wanted to get the hotel under their control, but they wanted to be able to put it to commercial use. "From what I hear, the Hacienda was the social hub, the first place where people really got dressed up," said council member Ginny Miller. "To preserve it as a museum is not what it stands for." Added council member Scott Chittum: "We want to create revenue and improve the tax base, and we're not getting that with this grant." Gulf Coast has poured more than $1.2-million into fixing the building since the organization bought it 17 years ago, and has gotten it listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Redevelopment director Gerald Paradise estimated that it would take roughly $2-million to renovate the building above and beyond the purchase price. Once the city owns the building, it can apply for matching grants from the state to restore it. Those grants, he said, would not restrict the use of the building in any way. -- Jennifer Goldblatt covers business in Pasco County. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6229, or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6229. Her e-mail address is goldblatt@sptimes.com.
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From today's Pasco Times Editorial Letters |
