• Hotel, parking garage coming to city
The timing and the City of Greer’s financial growth led to the pursuit of a hotel-parking garage complex and possibly more commercial/retail business.
The city will issue a bond for no more than $10 million for the approximately 300 parking spaces garage that will be paid over a 25-30 year period, said City Administrator Ed Driggers.
“One of the tools available to us is to purchase revenue bonds and be able to pay that debt over 25-30 years with the revenue structure we have in place,” Driggers said. “There is no allocation for additional tax millage for that debt. We would pledge the payments over time.”
A few more details were shared at Tuesday’s city council meeting about the minimum 100-room hotel and the project, code-named “Kaboom”. The biggest part was the city’s financial obligation for the parking facility.
“Part of the maturing process is that the timing is right,” Mayor Rick Danner said. “There are projects that you sense for different reasons. Some will have a direct return and some will have an indirect return. This is a project that will have a direct return.”
Key to the hotel is the parking facility that will be designed, constructed, operated and maintained by the city. The city ordinance mandates that a garage be attached to the hotel.
The city will lease 90-100 parking spaces for public use but it was not clear if the spaces would be fee-based or merchants can purchase parking for their businesses and customers.
“Parking in this whole idea is there are many pieces of the puzzle and sometimes it is intrinsically linked to those pieces,” Danner said. “There 90 to 100 dedicated places, we know leased or used in some regard. This allows for us to stretch out and provide for more parking in the downtown area.”
Greer’s 2030 plan included the need for a parking structure to provide for the central business district’s growth.
Danner has been the most outspoken proponent for a hotel in downtown.
“We’ve been wanting this for a long time in various different plans,” Danner said. “If this project comes to fruition, it’s been one talked about for a long time.”
Not discussed was where the complex would be built and resulting impact on city traffic.
No one spoke in favor or against the hotel/garage project Tuesday night.
The next city council meeting at City Hall is Oct. 10 at 6:30 p.m.