Youngstown Approves Agreements for Hotel Refinancing
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The city’s Board of Control on Thursday morning approved entering into three agreements related to refinancing efforts by the owners of the DoubleTree by Hilton Youngstown Downtown hotel.
Among the items approved by the board’s members – Mayor Jamael Tito Brown, Finance Director Kyle Miasek and Law Director Jeff Limbian – is the entailed execution of an energy project cooperative agreement that provides an advance of funds to Youngstown Stambaugh Hotel LLC, which owns and operates the downtown Youngstown DoubleTree, to repay and refinance the costs of qualifying energy efficiency improvements.
In January, the hotel partnership reported spending more than $11.7 million for energy efficiency improvements to the Stambaugh Building, which opened as the DoubleTree in 2018.
The agreement involves the city; Youngstown Stambaugh Hotel; Youngstown Energy Special Improvement District, which the city created earlier this year to assist the hotel operator with the refinancing and which held its first meeting last week; and SPH Youngstown LLC, an affiliate of Stonehill Strategic Capital LLC that will provide financing through a Property Assessed Clean Energy – or PACE – arrangement.
The funds will be repaid through an assessment added to the hotel’s property tax bill. The Board of Control approved execution of a special assessment agreement between the Mahoning County treasurer, the city, Youngstown Stambaugh, Youngstown ESID and SPH Youngstown, under which the city agreed to transfer the special assessments it receives from the county to the PACE lender.
A third item approved authorized execution of a consent to special assessments related to the PACE financing to be provided to the hotel.
Last month, the Board of Control, following a City Council vote authorizing it, approved refinancing $845,128 the hotel partners owe from a loan it took out in 2016. The new terms match those of a refinanced loan for $4.9 million from the Ohio Water Development Authority, which required the city to match its new terms.
In other business, the board approved paying $23,984 for ongoing design services as part of the 20 Federal Place remediation project. The city has worked with a Pittsburgh-based architectural firm since 2021 on redevelopment of the city-owned downtown building, which is undergoing environmental remediation funded by a $6.9 million brownfield remediation grant the city received last year.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
