CVB endorses projects along BR’s riverfront

• By SCOTT DYER
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Oct 24, 2008 - Page: 1D - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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The Baton Rouge Area Convention and Visitors Bureau on Thursday overwhelmingly endorsed Mayor-President Kip Holden’s $989 million construction proposal that includes an expansion of the River Center and its parking and a $247.5 million riverfront attraction that would be run by Audubon Nature Institute.

Paul Arrigo, the bureau’s president and CEO, said the proposal will enhance his agency’s ability to attract major conventions to East Baton Rouge Parish.

To fund the mayor’s proposal, voters will be asked on Nov. 4 to approve a half-cent sales tax and a 9.9-mill property tax that will remain in effect for 30 years, or until the project’s bonds  are retired.

A study by economist Jim Richardson and real estate researcher Wade Rugas estimates that the proposed Audubon Alive attraction and the expanded River Center will generate enough new economic development to pay off the bond issue in fewer than 20 years.

As part of the proposed River Center expansion, Virginia-based developer Armada Hoffler has agreed to spend $100-million in private funds to build two new hotels next to the River Center with a combined capacity of 440 rooms.

In their study, Richardson and Rugas said Baton Rouge currently has about 600 hotel rooms in close proximity to the River Center, while most other similarly sized cities have more than 1,000 rooms close to their convention centers.

A recent survey showed that Chattanooga, Tenn., has about 2,000 hotel rooms near its convention center, while Tulsa, Okla., has 1,200 rooms.

The Bureau is supported mostly by revenues from a special sales tax on hotel rooms, and Arrigo said he’s confident that the mayor’s proposed bond issue will grow the local market for hotels.

“If I can’t get people to come to Baton Rouge, they can’t get them into their hotels,” Arrigo said.

Holden’s proposal also includes money for public works and   public  safety  projects.

The bureau’s vote was 10-0, but Metro Councilman Wayne Carter, who opposes Holden’s proposal, was  absent.

Also Thursday, the bureau released a report that showed that sales tax collection from East Baton Rouge hotels were up by 25 percent in August compared to the same month last year.

Revenues from the 3-percent bed tax dedicated to the Bureau totaled $359,297 in August, up from $287,400 collected in August 2007.