Dewberry Hotel
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The Landmark Hotel is a partially constructed building on the Downtown Mall, proposed as a nine-story, 100-room luxury hotel. Three companies are bidding on the property at a June 18, 2012 auction in U.S. District Court. [1]
History
The construction site is a former bank building that was owned by Wachovia after it purchased Central Fidelity.
The Landmark was the creation of entrepreneur Halsey Minor. [2] The idea was to build a $30 million, nine-story luxury boutique hotel.
Prior owners of the project included Lee Danielson and Oliver Kuttner, and other names used for the project in the past are The Beacon-Charlottesville and Hotel Charlottesville[3].
At groundbreaking on March 11, 2008, the opening was scheduled for July 2009. [4][2]
Financing controversy threatened the project as early as November 2008, and Silverton Bank, the project's lender, eventually was subject of a bank failure[5].
Lee Danielson was the developer of the project until Minor fired him in December 2008[6].
Construction stopped in January of 2009.
On August 25, 2010, Judge Edward L. Hogshire signed an arbitration order in which Danielson agreed to pay $4.2 million in damages and $2.2 million in attorneys' fees to Minor. Danielson misrepresented the costs of building the hotel.
Also in August 2010, Minor announced he would file a suit against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation claiming the federal agency is directly responsible for the stall in the hotel's construction[7].
On September 1, 2010, Minor filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy[8].
The Charlottesville government refused to provide financial assistance to complete the hotel, unlike the development assistance provided to the Omni Hotel in the 1970s.[9]
Minor is represented by DLA Piper[10]
In January 2011, a Georgia court awarded the project to Specialty Finance Group following a long legal dispute. [11]
On December 5, 2011, a Charlottesville Circuit Court judge ruled that the first debt that Minor must repay is more than $128,000 in back taxes to the city of Charlottesville. Next, Minor must pay Clancy & Theys Construction, other construction firms and then Specialty Finance Group. [12]
Auction
On June 18, 2012, three companies will bid on the property. They are Deerfield Square Associates, J.B. McKimmon and TRT Holdings, Inc. [1] Each has submitted an opening bid of at least $3 million and a $200,000 cash deposit. Danielson submitted a bid but it was rejected because of an inability to guarantee to pay.
Approvals
The Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review approved the plans on February 20, 2008[3].
BAR granted conditional permission to tear down the black granite façade in October 2008[13].
Timeline
- November 15, 2007: Minor Family Hotels LLC and Hotel Charlottesville LLC enter into a development agreement
- April 19-23, 2010: Parties hold arbitration meetings at which 8 witnesses testify and thousands of documents are introduced into the record[14]
- August 25, 2010: Judge Hogshire signs the arbitration award
- January 19, 2011: Fulton County State Court in Georgia awards assets of project to Specialty Finance Group [11]
- June 18, 2012: Auction in U.S. District Court
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Web. Three bidders for Landmark Hotel emerge, Samantha Koon, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, June 14, 2012, retrieved June 15, 2012.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Danielson, Minor break ground on ‘Landmark’ Dave McNair, The Hook, March 11 2008, retrieved 26 Aug 2009.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 ONARCHITECTURE- Bright idea: Danielson's Beacon's back in town, Dave McNair, The Hook, March 1, 2007, retrieved 26 Aug 2009.
- ↑ New Details about New Luxury Hotel, Joanna Shrewsbury, NBC 29, March 11 2008, retrieved 26 Aug 2009.
- ↑ Landmark letdown: Hotel project’s lender folds, Lindsay Barnes, The Hook, May 1 2009, retrieved 26 Aug 2009.
- ↑ Landmark Hotel developer fired Brian McNeill, Daily Progress, December 6, 2008, retrieved 26 Aug 2009.
- ↑ "FDIC Abuse in Charlottesville | Change.org." Web. 03 Aug. 2010. <http://www.savecharlottesville.com/>.
- ↑ Web. C-Ville: Development - Landmark Hotel Owner Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Chianzi, Chiara, C-VILLE Weekly, Portico Publications, 7 Sept. 2010, retrieved 08 Sept. 2010.
- ↑ Web. Minor Asks City for Help with Landmark Hotel, Henry Graff, NBC29.com, Aug 12, 2011
- ↑ . Web. Judge Confirms Award in Heated Landmark Hotel Battle, Kates, Tasha, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, 25 Aug. 2010, retrieved 26 Aug. 2010..
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Web. Minor: 'Travesty of justice' on Landmark ruling, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, January 21, 2011, retrieved January 24, 2011.
- ↑ Web. http://www2.dailyprogress.com/business/2011/dec/07/judge-prioritizes-minors-landmark-debts-ar-1527954/, Samantha Koon, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, December 7, 2011, retrieved December 8, 2011.
- ↑ Landmark Hotel developer given permission to take down black granite facade, Sean Tubbs, Charlottesville Tomorrow, October 22, 2008, retreived 26 Aug. 2009
- ↑ Shumener, Betty M., Henry H. Oh, and John D. Spurling. "Re: Minor Family Hotels, LLC vs Hotel Charlottesville." Letter to C. Connor Crook, Esquire, Boyle, Bain, Reback & Slayton. 28 June 2010. Charlottesville Tomorrow's Document Archive. Web. 2 July 2010. <http://www.cvilletomorrow.org/docs/ftp://cvilletomorrow@www.cvilletomorrow.org/httpdocs/docs/20100628-Landmark-Arbitration-Letter.pdf>