As we head into July, city officials are now one month behind their planned schedule of getting final development agreements with Hardball Capital and the hotel developers. Mayor Graham Richard this week said the delay shouldn’t be much longer.
Richard said the negotiations with Hardball and the hotel developers are wrapping up and he hopes to submit final agreements to the City Council by Friday, July 6. This would allow the agreements to be introduced by the council at its July 10 meeting.
Deputy Mayor Mark Becker said the city sent Hardball what could be the final agreement earlier this week, and city officials plan to meet with the hotel developers Friday to try to finalize that deal. Fiday is the same day the board overseeing the Grand Wayne Center votes to give the hotel project $2.5 million, but city leaders said the dates aren’t linked.