Residents were divided at a public hearing Wednesday evening about the possibility of funding an extension to The Broadway Columbia hotel with tax-increment financing.
David Parmley, who owns The Broadway Columbia Hotel, is asking for $2.1 million in incentives to defray some of the projected $20 million cost of building a second tower to the hotel. The tower would be built at 1104 E. Walnut St., next to the Short Street Garage.
The new tower would triple the amount of meeting space in the hotel, according to previous Missourian reporting. Parmley said he thinks the addition would bring more visitors downtown, resulting in a boost to retail sales.
Some residents at the Wednesday hearing, held in the Daniel Boone City Building, told the Tax Increment Financing Commission they agreed with Parmley.
Columbia resident Jay Linder called the TIF a “no-brainer.”
“If you look at downtown Columbia four years ago to today, it’s a night and day difference of what this hotel has done for the community,” Linder said.
He said he rarely came downtown before the hotel was built. Now, he said he visits about three nights a week, spending money at restaurants.
Kenny Greene owns Monarch Jewelry on East Walnut Street, about a block away from the site of the proposed new tower. He said the hotel has been a good neighbor to the North Village Arts District.
“We look forward to an improvement with the addition of this new tower,” Greene said. “We look forward to more adults, and more people coming from out of town and supporting Columbia and adding to the vibrance of the city.”
Other residents said the incentive is fiscally irresponsible.
Joe Haslag, an MU economics professor at MU, said the city could find a better use for the $2.1 million, such as cutting taxes or investing the money. He said an investment with a 7 percent return would bring the city more revenue than expanding the hotel.
“It is a subsidy,” Haslag said. “Let’s make no bones about this. It is a subsidy to a business.”
“I’m simply asking you to take a long, hard look at what you’re doing with the money that comes from the taxpayers or is forfeited under a TIF plan,” Haslag said. “What’s the best use for the taxpayers?”
Columbia resident Heather Morgan submitted her public comment in an email to Christine King, a Columbia Public Schools representative to the commission.
Morgan said she is opposed to “tax-funded capitalist endeavors” like this TIF.
“I do not see the benefit to our community, but only a benefit to the owners of this hotel,” Morgan said. “The construction in Columbia is obnoxious, and I fear the next housing bubble burst is imminent.”
The public hearing will continue at 6 p.m. Oct. 30 in City Council chambers at the Daniel Boone City Building. After that hearing, the commission will have 30 days to vote on a recommendation to the City Council, either for or against accepting the TIF application. The council will make the decision to accept the application or not.
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