Press Release: Funding
By WAPT Channel 16
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
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King Edward Revitalization Company LLC |
300 West Capitol Street Suite 201 Phone (601) 354-3660 Fax (360) 838-0428 |
Press Release
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Contact: David Watkins Phone: (601)354-3660 |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 5PM, EST, September 11,2007 |
KING EDWARD PROJECT SECURES FUNDING
The development group lead by Historic Restoration, Inc. (HRI) of New Orleans has announced another milestone in the progress on the redevelopment of the King Edward Hotel in Jackson, Mississippi. The historic hotel is being restored, along with a redevelopment of the Standard Life Building and a parking garage, as part of a $100 million redevelopment plan for the long dormant property.
National New Markets Fund, LLC and Capital One have closed a $15 million New Markets Tax Credit (“NMTC”) investment with HRI Properties into the landmark King Edward Hotel. This funding commitment provides HRI with a critical piece of the $100 million financing required to acquire and restore the historic King Edward Hotel, built in 1923 and vacant since 1967, and the Standard Life building.
Through a competitive process, the Jackson Redevelopment Authority selected the development team of HRI, New Orleans Saints running back Deuce McAllister and lawyer attorney David Watkins to redevelop this property, which will be at the heart of a revitalization effort in downtown Jackson.
HRI, a national leader in the adaptive reuse of historic structures, is planning a 186-room hotel, 64 upscale apartments, and retail shops for the site. The project is intended to provide a major boost to the local economy, in terms of revitalization and eradication of blight, bringing jobs and outside revenues into the local economy. The final financing will be in place upon approval of a $36 million state bond authority approval, anticipated to take place this month. “The $15 million commitment from National New Markets Fund and Capital One is a pivot point in this project – it brings us one step closer to making this project a reality,” stated Hal Fairbanks, Director of Acquisitions for HRI Properties.
“We are very pleased with this event because it means that we are on schedule with our redevelopment plans,” said David Watkins, one of the local partners in the development. “We are continuing work on design plans and will begin the final phase of reconstruction in November, with an anticipated completion date of the Spring quarter of 2009”.
The New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC) program, created in 2000, is administered by the Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund. The program was created with the specific intent of financing extremely challenging economic development projects in low-income communities across the country. This innovative and relatively new program is credited with providing the critical gap financing needed to make the King Edward project financially feasible.
Belden Hull Daniels of Economic Innovation International, Inc. and Deborah La Franchi of Strategic Development Solutions are the co-founders of National New Markets Fund, a financing vehicle established to investment in catalytic projects in low-income communities in the Gulf region. The Fund received a $25 million NMTC allocation from CDFI Fund last June. This investment will be its largest deployment. The principals are extremely supportive of this challenging and much needed project, “this project epitomizes why the New Markets Tax Credit program was created - the NMTCs from CDFI Fund are a critical lynchpin in bringing this blighted, long abandoned and financially challenging project to fruition. Without NMTCs the site would likely remain blighted and abandoned for years to come,” states Deborah La Franchi, the President of National New Markets Fund.
Troy Villafarra of Capital One, N.A. said that his bank is committed to the revitalization of this region, and he sees this financing commitment as a critical piece of Jackson’s urban renewal.
Contacts:
David Watkins
President
Watkins Development LLC
(601) 354-3660
Deborah J. La Franchi
President
National New Markets Fund, LLC
(310) 914-5333 ext 203
Belden Hull Daniels
CEO
National New Markets Fund, LLC
(617) 523-1491
Bdaniels@economic-innovation.com
King Edward Revitalization Company LLC
