Terranea Resort Gets City-Sponsored Bailout
Given the hard times facing the travel industry I'm surprised that more resorts haven't asked for a little help. The Los Angeles Times reports that the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, California recently got what amounts to an $8 million loan from the city by allowing Lowe Enterprises to defer payment of its hotel tax for several years.
We first heard about this resort way back in 2005. The lavish compound located on the spot of the old Marineland of the Pacific oceanarium will open later this month with three restaurants, a nine-hole golf course, a 360-room hotel and 20 bungalows. The complex also includes some pretty expensive real estate, 82 casitas and villas that range in price from $2 million to $4 million.
Terranea will be allowed to keep the 10 percent hotel tax customers pay in a deal that will allow the resort to receive $8 million or collect the taxes for 27 months, whichever comes first. The loan will be repaid by 2013 at the London interbank offered rate plus 8 percentage points. The city council made its decision Wednesday morning at a special meeting. Robert Lowe, chairman and chief executive of Lowe Enterprises, says that once the resort is up and running at full strength in a couple of years it should provide the city with $7 million to $8 million in taxes every year.
This isn't the first time we've seen a city step in to help a hotel in trouble, Portland, Oregon's Portland Development Commission agreed to accept delayed payments on taxpayer-funded loans to keep the developer of the Nines Hotel from defaulting on loans. The developer is still planning to repay its $16.9 million in city loans at the original interest rates once The Nines' business improves. The current expectation is that loan payments should start up again in 2011 if the economy improves along the current predicted trajectory.
Charlie Sheen Gets Back To His Roots
The List #0147: Escape a Car Underwater
WHOOPS! Obama Makes Big Gaffe
Visit the Maldive Islands Before It's Too Late
H&M's Plus-Size Model Jennie Runk Says She Chose To Gain Weight
New Trayvon Martin Evidence Features Incriminating Photos, Texts From Teen
Okla. Sheriff's Deputy Finds Dog Guarding Body Buried Under Destroyed Home
Reptiles Make Home in UK Man's Cable Box
Jury Foreman: '18 Days Of Testimony Hurt' Jodi Arias
Springtime Budget-Busters -- Savings Experiment
Is This Woman Too Pretty To Work?
What It's Like To Talk To A 2-Year-Old
Mariah Carey Suffers Wardrobe Malfunction on Good Morning America
Parents Face Tough Choice When Tornadoes Bear Down
Bridge Collapses In Washington State
The Story Behind Hairspray
Jodi Arias Jury DEADLOCKED
Killed Soldier In London Attack Identified
LISTEN: Terror Inside Elementary School As Tornado Hits
Rapper Accused Of Faking His Own Death To Escape Payments
Helen Flanagan Launches PETA Campaign As Only She Knows How
Surgeons Remove Giant Hairball From Tiger
Brave Woman Stood Down Armed London Attackers
Teenager's 'Awww'-Inspiring Drawing Wins Big At Google
'DWTS' Shakeup Ahead?
LOOK: Photoshop Mistake Is Seriously Cringeworthy
Pope Francis Says All Who Do Good Are Redeemed - Atheists Included
PHOTO: Dog Guards Dead Victim's Body After Oklahoma Tornado Disaster
REVEALED: Disturbing Trend In Human Intelligence
Man Reportedly Beheaded In Brutal Assault In London Neighborhood
The World's Most Powerful Women
Rescuers Continue Search For Tornado Survivors