I got the impression from the City Council meeting Tuesday night that all of the financing for the Wonderful Development (downtown Marriott) was in place, and all he needed was the City’s okay in order to start construction. But then I read this in the Journal Star this morning:
Before the conventions can be attracted, EM Properties, the developer of the Marriott Hotel project, needs approval from the Illinois Finance Authority. The authority next meets June 8, and it’s unknown whether a request for a moral obligation bond supporting the hotel will be on the agenda.
“Realistically, that may be too soon for all the materials to come together after the City Council decision but our team is working closely with EM Properties,” finance authority spokeswoman Marj Halperin said.
So the project is dependent on Matthews getting this IFA loan? Am I reading that right? If so, why was the project characterized as having all its financing in place in the days leading up to the City Council’s vote? Why did the council communication say, “EM Properties . . . has now secured all necessary private financing”? (I know, the IFA is public financing, not private — nevertheless, the council communication gave the impression that the City’s $37 million obligation was the only public financing needed for the project to begin.) Why was it not mentioned during the marathon City Council meeting?
The Peoria Public Schools Board of Education stopped broadcasting their meetings live in May of this year, opting to show the meeting a week delayed and with the public comments portion of the meeting excised. The first meeting in May was recorded (audio only) by blogger Elaine Hopkins and posted on her site. This week’s meeting was recorded by Diane Vespa (video and audio), and she and Hopkins, on behalf of the District 150 Watch group, have partnered with WMBD-TV to put the video on channel 31’s website. You can see this week’s meeting by clicking on this link: