The 365-room hotel for the Nicholas J. Pirro Convention Center is the number one priority in shovel-ready projects for Onondaga County officials, Deputy County Executive Edward Kochian said. The development company, Wilmorite, is their first choice in building a four-star hotel that the Westin hotel chain would run.
Since the global credit crisis the company has not been able to secure the approximately $50 million dollar construction loan they need for the project.
If Wilmorite “can’t make it work” county officials would have to consider other proposals, which would delay the construction another couple of years, Kochian said.
County Executive Joanie Mahoney said county officials are trying to convince New York state that the hotel is as crucial as water to the functioning of the convention center. “Without it, the center is not being used to its capacity,” she said.
Officials have told the state administration that they will use the amount of stimulus money they receive for the construction of the hotel rather than for other shovel-ready projects like road and bridge work, Kochian said.
According to Kochian, the hotel would have a potential economic impact for the community by creating jobs and increasing the business of the convention center.
Photo courtesy of www.syracuse .com The Post Standard
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