Dean hedges on convention center hotel

'I'm not going to force something that would be a mistake'

Email | Print By J.R. Lind

Mayor Karl Dean says his administration is on track to deliver a plan for financing a new convention center in the next month, but is more circumspect when it comes to the hotel slated to rise alongside.

“We’ll be able to make an announcement or do something else in the same time period” as the Music City Center financing vote, Dean told NashvillePost.com Monday. “I’ve made a commitment to myself and the city: We’re not going to build something we can’t afford. We’re not going to try to force something we can’t do given the nature of the market. This isn’t easy. … Politically it wouldn’t be easy in a good economic environment. I’m not going to force something that would be a mistake.”

Dean’s caution on the hotel will frustrate backers of the $600-million-plus Music City Center, who say a large hotel is key to the project’s viability. MDHA’s board has approved Marriott to manage the proposed 1,000-room hotel and use its top-line Marquis brand for the site. But even before yesterday, the Dean administration had refused to commit publicly to a 1,000-room hotel and it's possible the size could be reduced before a financing plan is presented to Metro Council.

Despite the unresolved questions about the hotel and the legal wrangling related to Metro’s land acquisitions, Dean said he remains committed to releasing by early December the details on how the city will pay for the Music City Center.

“The city can afford to build a convention center,” Dean said. “We need to go about our business and stay on track. I think is the time to do it, it’s the right thing to do.”

Eminent-domain cases for many of the properties are moving through the courts and Tower Investments, the area’s largest property owner, has filed a motion in Chancery Court asking to see the appraisals the Metro Development and Housing Agency had performed on its land. Dean said it’s all part of a process.

“Where eminent domain is involved, it’s controversial. It happens. That’s why you have courts,” he said.

Nevertheless, Dean emphasized the “urgency” of the project and dismissed concerns the council will not have enough time to vet the financing plan before being asked to vote.

“I’d like to have the vote in December,” he said. “But if they want to wait until January, that’s fine. … It’s never going to be cheaper. The money will never be cheaper, the construction will never be cheaper and you will never have a situation where the stimulus it will give our city will be greater.”