Gaylord needs property to be blighted to build in Arizona

Gaylord Palms Hotel in Orlando

The Mesa City Council approved Monday the designation of redevelopment area for the 3,200-acre Mesa Proving Grounds.

That means the developers of two major resorts and a convention center will get an additional $7 million in property tax breaks, for a total of $85.5 million. The property is owned by DMB Associates of Scottsdale.

The resolution, which accepts existence of ‘slum and blight’ conditions on the property, needed six out of seven votes, per state statute, to pass. It was on the consent agenda, which is often approved without discussion, and the vote was unanimous.

In September, Mesa announced the $136.5 million tax-incentive agreement, which includes a bed tax incentive that’s up for a public vote in March. Nashville’s Gaylord Entertainment Co. plans to build a minimum 1,200-room hotel and convention center, similar to the company’s high-profile properties in Texas, Florida and Washington, D.C.

Read the entire story in the East Valley Tribune newspaper.

Gaylord Hotels go to Arizona

Gaylord Texan Hotel

The announcement Sept. 3 that Gaylord Hotels would build its next major venue near Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport. The buzz went national, in fact, as hotel-industry publications and Web sites pulsed with news of Gaylord's planned expansion.

In the month-plus since Gaylord first announced its Mesa venture, the company and DMB Associates, from whom Gaylord is buying the resort site, have been ironing out a development agreement with the city.

An early draft showed Mesa allowing Gaylord to retain bed taxes to be collected at its resort, as long as the money is used to promote its Valley venue and Arizona tourism.

Under an economic-development provision in state law, Mesa also will take ownership of the land and lease it back to Gaylord, giving the company a break on property taxes.

No drawings nor site plans for the Mesa site have been drafted. Mesa is annexing and rezoning the site.

Read the entire story HERE.