Pulitzer Hotel, Library Project Hog Tied by Bankers (United States)
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Pulitzer Hotel, Library Project Hog Tied by Bankers (United States)
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Category: North America & West Indies / Carribean islands - United States - Industry economy -
Hotel projects
This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2011-08-17
Developer Mac Pulitzer, great-grandson of Pulitzer Prize founder Joseph Pulitzer, announced today in a statement that, due to near-zero lending practices by banks, he'd welcome an equity partner in his $11 million Pulitzer Hotel venture, a 40-room mixed-use luxury boutique destination tourism project that also will house the nation's first and only Pulitzer Library.
Pulitzer added that he'd be willing to consider relocating the project should local incentives elsewhere make such a move reasonable.
"When I began my journey to open the nation's first Pulitzer Library and Hotel in Fairhope, Ala., I had a feeling banking the venture would not be easy; however, I never expected 99 percent of banks would slam the door on an asset that shows exceptional appraised values and has national historic significance," Pulitzer said. "I am determined, and I am not giving up," he continued. "I am in contact with the United States Department of Agriculture, Business and Industry Loan Division concerning financing, but getting its 80 percent guarantee requires a 50 percent loan-to-value ratio.
"Unfortunately, I had money in one of the Bernie Madoff-type Ponzi schemes, and it ate the majority of my liquid assets. This makes me search out an equity investor with $1.5 million, or about 12.5 percent of this $11 million venture.
"This is an asset that should be built. 'Pulitzer' the name, is recognizable world wide and it works very well with luxury hotel properties. I'd like to build the Pulitzer Library and hotel in Fairhope; however, if I locate an investor that wants this asset built in a larger market, well, my bags will be packed and ready to go," Pulitzer concluded. "My goal, in the end, is to build this asset for the entire country. Joseph Pulitzer gave a lot to this country, and I'd like to pay tribute to the greatness of the Pulitzer Prize that he created with the Pulitzer Hotel and Library."
MORE:
In late March, Mac Pulitzer announced the nation's first Pulitzer Library and Hotel to be built in Fairhope, Ala., the home of three Pulitzer Prize winners, two Pulitzer Prize nominees, and a locale that can claim Jimmy Buffett, Andy Andrews, WEB Griffin, Winston Groom, Rick Bragg, Fannie Flagg, Mark Childress, and many other literary luminaries.
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