Renewed interest in downtown hotel

There is renewed interest from a developer in the Sky View at Carriage City Plaza building downtown.

Redevelopment Director Leonard Bier said in a brief interview after last week’s Redevelopment Agency meeting that there is interest from an entity in possibly acquiring the hotel and retail portion of the 17-story complex.

Carriage City Plaza hotel
File photo

Bier told Parking Authority commissioners that he, Mayor Samson Steinman and City Administrator Cherron Rountree met with representatives of an investment group and a hotel holding/operating company interested in acquiring and reopening SkyView hotel property as a joint venture, according to minutes of the November Parking Authority meeting. He also serves as director of the Parking Authority.

Bier and the mayor planned to go to New York for a site inspection of a hotel in Greenwich Village operated by the joint venture partners. A joint venture would require a parking agreement with the authority for guest and event parking if they were to purchase and reopen the hotel, he told commissioners.

At the December Parking Authority meeting, Bier reported that he was in discussions and negotiations on a parking agreement with the joint venture, which was interested in reopening the first four floors, retail and hotel condominium portion of the Skyview property.

Carriage City Plaza from train platformThe 20,000-square-foot retail space and hotel, which occupies the first four floors, technically are two separate commercial condo properties. The retail space is assessed for about $810,500 in 2017 for a property tax bill of about $54,166, according to property records. The hotel space is assessed for $1,506,500 — which is down from $1,962,200 in 2016 — yielding a property taxes of $129,996. The 2017 assessment is $455,700 or 23 percent less than the $1,962,200 it was assessed for in the 2016 tax year.

A series of improvements to the building were revealed to residents in December. The building had a potential suitor in 2015 but no deal ever came to fruition.

The building was completed in 2008 just before the collapse of the housing market. About 60 units were sold as condos before the project went into foreclosure in 2010. The remaining units were acquired, along with the hotel and retail space, and leased as apartments. The retail space has rarely had more than one tenant since it was acquired in 2011 by 80 E Milton Ave LLC, a subsidiary. Hotel Indigo was the original hotel in the building but did not renew its contract and vacated the space in September 2013.

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