Dewberry Hotel

From Cvillepedia
Revision as of 14:15, 6 December 2013 by Seantubbs (talk | contribs) (removed stub, updated page)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The Landmark Hotel is a partially constructed building on the Downtown Mall, proposed as a nine-story, 100-room luxury hotel. The firm Dewberry Capital of Atlanta won the shell of the building at an auction in June 2012 and plans to complete the structure. [1] However, on January 14, 2014, Dewberry will appear before the Charlottesville Planning Commission to answer a spot blight complaint. [2]


History

The Landmark was the creation of entrepreneur Halsey Minor. [3] The idea was to build a $30 million, nine-story luxury boutique hotel.

The construction site is a former bank building that was owned by Wachovia after it purchased Central Fidelity.

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[4]. At groundbreaking on March 11, 2008, the opening was scheduled for July 2009. [5][3]

Financing controversy threatened the project as early as November 2008, and Silverton Bank, the project's lender, eventually was subject of a bank failure[6].

Lee Danielson was the developer of the project until Minor fired him in December 2008[7].

Abandoned structure

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[8].

On September 1, 2010, Minor filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy[9].

The Charlottesville government refused to provide financial assistance to complete the hotel, unlike the development assistance provided to the Omni Hotel in the 1970s.[10]

Minor is represented by DLA Piper[11]

New owner

In January 2011, a Georgia court awarded the project to Specialty Finance Group following a long legal dispute. [12]

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. [13]

Auction

On June 18, 2012, three companies bid on the property. They are Deerfield Square Associates, J.B. McKimmon and TRT Holdings, Inc. [14] 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.

Dewberry Capital, associated with Deerfield Square Associates, won the auction with a $6.25 million bid. [1]

Spot blight

After nearly four years of being abandoned, the city of Charlottesville served Dewberry with a letter requesting he secure the property following grafitti. Dewberry responded by saying he had done enough. However, the city is still forcing him to appear before the planning commission on January 14, 2013, to explain his plans. Dewberry has stated he will complete the project after another hotel is completed in Charleston, South Carolina. [2]

Approvals

The Charlottesville Board of Architectural Review approved the plans on February 20, 2008[4].

BAR granted conditional permission to tear down the black granite façade in October 2008[15].


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[16]
  • 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 [12]
  • June 18, 2012: Auction in U.S. District Court won by Dewberry Capital
  • January 14, 2014: Spot blight hearing

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Web. Dewberry Capital Wins Landmark Hotel for $6.25 M, Matt Telhelm, NBC29 News, June 18, 2012, retrieved June 18, 2012.
  2. 2.0 2.1 Web. Charlottesville officials set Planning Commission date on Landmark, Staff reports, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, December 5, 2013, retrieved December 6, , 2013.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Danielson, Minor break ground on ‘Landmark’ Dave McNair, The Hook, March 11 2008, retrieved 26 Aug 2009.
  4. 4.0 4.1 ONARCHITECTURE- Bright idea: Danielson's Beacon's back in town, Dave McNair, The Hook, March 1, 2007, retrieved 26 Aug 2009.
  5. New Details about New Luxury Hotel, Joanna Shrewsbury, NBC 29, March 11 2008, retrieved 26 Aug 2009.
  6. Landmark letdown: Hotel project’s lender folds, Lindsay Barnes, The Hook, May 1 2009, retrieved 26 Aug 2009.
  7. Landmark Hotel developer fired Brian McNeill, Daily Progress, December 6, 2008, retrieved 26 Aug 2009.
  8. "FDIC Abuse in Charlottesville | Change.org." Web. 03 Aug. 2010. <http://www.savecharlottesville.com/>.
  9. 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.
  10. Web. Minor Asks City for Help with Landmark Hotel, Henry Graff, NBC29.com, Aug 12, 2011
  11. . Web. Judge Confirms Award in Heated Landmark Hotel Battle, Kates, Tasha, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, 25 Aug. 2010, retrieved 26 Aug. 2010..
  12. 12.0 12.1 Web. Minor: 'Travesty of justice' on Landmark ruling, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, January 21, 2011, retrieved January 24, 2011.
  13. 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.
  14. Web. Three bidders for Landmark Hotel emerge, Samantha Koon, Daily Progress, Lee Enterprises, June 14, 2012, retrieved June 15, 2012.
  15. Landmark Hotel developer given permission to take down black granite facade, Sean Tubbs, Charlottesville Tomorrow, October 22, 2008, retreived 26 Aug. 2009
  16. 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>

External links