The plan to bring a Holiday Inn hotel next to the Cotton Mill Marketplace on Highway 12 is progressing, and construction at the site is expected in three to four weeks, according to the site's developer.
The Starkville Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously passed the preliminary and final plat approval for the completed retail site Wednesday afternoon in a special-called meeting. The approvals are one of the final steps before the city can release infrastructure reimbursements as part of the site's tax increment financing plan.
Last week, a foreclosure notice was posted for the hotel's owners, Cotton Mill Hotel Group. Developer Mark Nicholas said the release of TIF funds will help repay a loan that funded infrastructure improvements with the shopping center, which has been open for over a year and a half. The foreclosure notice was stopped after a new financing commitment was agreed upon, he said.
"I am looking to get reimbursed ($900,000) and this was the quickest way to the finish line," Nicholas added. "When we started the hotel project, we were with a bank out of Minneapolis, and we had to stop the project because of our contractor. He stopped working and said he could not build it for a certain price. I was faced with either a lawsuit, or to fire him. I fired him."
For more, see the Sept. 29 edition.