MASON CITY – The Mason City council and other officials discussed two possible hotel options for downtown Mason City Wednesday night – but no vote was taken on either option.
The City of Mason City advertised Request for Qualifications (RFQs) to build a Downtown Hotel and Conference Center in cooperation with the Iowa Reinvestment Act program. The City received two responses to the Request for Qualifications (RFQs) in response for a Downtown Hotel and Conference Center. The two statements of qualification are presented below as information to the public.
G8 Development
Gatehouse Capital
At the city council work session and the special council meeting that followedWednesday evening, a citizen who attended told NIT “many people (were) ready to speak, myself included, in favor of Gatehouse, but no opportunity since no vote was being taken. The council itself only got the info 24 hours ago!”
The city disclosed just prior to the meeting that San Diego developer Philip Chodur’s G8 Development had finally procured the necessary financing that had evaded him for years that would supposedly allow him to move forward with building a hotel.
A source told NIT that councilman “Bill Schickel pushed to wait for a vote until the next council meeting… Trout recommending and Bookmeyer pushing G8 … Schoneman and Hickey would vote that way, apparently. Schickel, Lee, and Adams wanted to wait to vote, and seem to favor Gatehouse.”
In connection to the “Renaissance” project that includes the possible hotel, the city is still pursuing an arena in the Southbridge Mall and will seek approval from voters for $18 million in bonds to help build and lease the new structure.
More to come on this developing situation.
