Work set to start on downtown Hyatt
Atlantis officials predict April groundbreaking
18 comments below
Atlantis Marine World hopes to break ground on its long-anticipated Hyatt Place hotel in about a month. Locals hope the $41 million hotel will help jump-start downtown revitalization.
But Atlantis principal Jim Bissett said that won't be a problem; he anticipates breaking ground on the 100-room Hyatt hotel within the next month.
"Everything is looking good," Mr. Bissett told the News-Review on Monday, while acknowledge that by imposing the deadline, the IDA "put the pressure on" to get his financing in order.
Atlantis would have never gotten loans for the new project if not for the IDA's property tax abatements, as well as a $2.4 million state grant the company received last year, he said.
Anna Maria Villa, executive director of the IDA, said the Dec. 15 deadline was made because that's the date by which the IDA begins to collect payments in lieu of taxes on projects it assists.
"It's giving them the opportunity to commence before the next tax bill is due," she said. "If they do that, they will enjoy the benefit of the exemptions.
Mr. Bissett anticipates having the hotel open by May 2011.
The $21 million project will include the hotel, new exhibit space for the aquarium and a 350-seat banquet hall that will allow catered events to be held while the aquarium is open, Mr. Bissett said. Currently, events at the aquarium are held mostly on weekends and when the aquarium is closed.
The exhibit space will include different exhibits every one to two years. Some of those under consideration include the "Bodies" exhibit currently on display at South Street Seaport, a butterfly exhibit and a dinosaur exhibit in which the dinosaurs move.
"The reason the hotel is such an important factor is that it enables us to market into Manhattan and the five boroughs," Mr. Bissett said. Currently, the aquarium markets only in Suffolk and Nassau counties because people from New York City aren't likely to come out for a one-day trip -- and most of the area hotels are booked, he added.
Atlantis first received a 100 percent property tax abatement 10 years ago as an inducement to build in downtown Riverhead. That exemption expired this year, but in December, the IDA extended it another decade for the aquarium and granted an additional 10-year 100 percent property tax abatement for the new hotel. The abatements apply only to town, school, county and fire district taxes and only for improvements that have been made to the property.
Atlantis still pays taxes to the sewer, parking, lighting, ambulance and business improvement taxing districts. Its 2009 tax bill came to $125,895, according to town records. Without the IDA exemption, the full tax bill for the aquarium would have been $502,594, said tax receiver Maryann Heilbrunn.
However, Atlantis also makes a payment in lieu of taxes to the IDA based on the value of what was there before they built the hotel. That payment, around $30,000 per year, gets distributed to the town, county and school district.
tgannon@timesreview.com
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18 comments found
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IenocvIESvSnKjhtdU : 5/2/2011
Got it! Tankhs a lot again for helping me out!
Arts : 2/12/2011
I hope this works out. I have had the Aquarium all to myself the 5x I have been there, all on weekends. The town really does need traffic other then the low lifes that walk it now. The emphasis should be on the Arts. LI needs an art gallery and another place to throw concerts, that will get the people out. We only have Nassau Colisseum which needs to be relocated, that area is way overcrowded and people will travel to avoid that. Then build a second layer of road on the LIE or a tram from there to RIverhead, lord knows our highways can not handle the traffic. I jsut see dollar signs. I hope well spent.
Motorsports : 6/4/2010
Tell the town board, trust me they have no clue, like the old town board....they lack the insight to lose riverhead resorts and call the motorsports people back...
Then the 109 million dilema is solved.....
That hotel won't go out of business...
What is the draw for that hotel...
Another well thought out idea...
10 year tac abatement : 3/19/2010
A 10 year tax abatement was a good for Atlantis, and a 10 year abatement for the new Hyatt is good for the down town area and also for Atlantis, but ANOTHER 10 year abatement for Atlantis is not fair to the residents of Riverhead. It is time to put this property back on the tax rolls!
Free : 3/16/2010
100 percent property tax abatement 10 years ago and another 100% tax abatement for the next ten years. Is this town crazy or what? I'll get my tar and feathers out of my barn, ya' all with me?
i did move : 3/16/2010
so HA
i'll tell you why not : 3/15/2010
Why not give tax breaks, Town hall is looking to raise our taxes by about 21% due to there budgetary short fall. That places the burden on the homeowners. Why not give the home owners a break and collect the amount due from the proffiteers, and thats why not.
move then : 3/15/2010
If you hate the town then move. Downtown is a mess. If people want to invest and pay for improvements so be it, it's there money.
If the town needs to intice businesses with tax breaks to get SOMETHING done then why not.
I hate this town even more!! : 3/14/2010
This is such a wast of money, no one and i mean no one will come to downtown riverhead. Even if the hotel cost 41 billion to make, we need to get rid of all the prostitutes and drug dealers to name a few, this will never work. people will not want to hear a train going past a night, this will crash and burn.
tj doka
Hotel : 3/13/2010
Just build it already !
The hotel is within walking distance to the Suffolk County Jail !
The Jail is over-crowded and needs some extra space. Especially during the winter months !
Taxpayer money well spent !
tax breaks : 3/12/2010
Development like this is supposed to REDUCE the homeowner's taxes not add to them. The extension of the original tax break and the addition of this original break are ridiculous.
Manhattan? : 3/12/2010
I understand the purpose of this in wanting to expand and develop downtown Riverhead, which is much needed, and I think having different exhibits at this proposed hotel is a great thing for the town and the people here - but why are they trying to bring in people from Manhattan? The point of this should be to build something great for the people that are already here and the people who will be paying for it, not the jerks from Manhattan who only come out during the summer and crowd up the town. This should be about making a better place for Riverhead, not for people who don't even know where Riverhead is on a map.
abolish the IDA : 3/11/2010
Where does that $30,000 go to anyway? An Audit is way over due. Tax breaks? How about giving the homeowners tax breaks. You bunch of jerks. same ole', same ole'. Anyone want TEA?
