If approved, the ordinance would set up a development agreement between the city and Weyland Ventures Development, LLC, for work on the City Block Project.
The project will include the development of a hotel, parking, open space, and mixed-use residential buildings to be located on the city-owned block that sits in-between Second Street, Broadway, North Water Street, and Jefferson Street.
During the meeting, Bill Weyland and Barry Alberts with Weyland Ventures gave a presentation on the company, and its numerous other projects.
Alberts shared that he likes Paducah, and would love to do more projects after investing $21 million into the City Block project.
In April of 2019 the city and Weyland had entered into an agreement which enabled each party to begin research for the project, including numerous stakeholder meetings, market and financial analysis, project development and design, environmental review and geotechnical analysis, and a parking analysis.
The block is divided into three tracts, with Weyland purchasing the two smaller tracts (track 1 and track 3). Tract 2 will remain under the city's ownership for parking and open space.
In the first phase, Weyland will be purchasing Tract 1 for $141,000 for construction of a 4 1/2 story boutique hotel. The final plan indicates that the hotel will have 84 rooms along Jefferson Street. Weyland will be investing a minimum of $12 million into the hotel. The city will review the design of the hotel, ensuring that the design fits in the historic downtown area. Additionally, during the first phase, Weyland will be providing improvements to Tract 2. The goal is to create a green space, open space, and a parking area with the final site plan depicting 172 parking spaces. Currently, the parking lot offers 213 spaces. The city will remain the owners of tract 2 and will reimburse Weyland for the cost of development.
The second phase of the project includes the construction of two mixed-use commercial and residential buildings along Broadway on tract 3. Weyland will purchase tract 3 for $155,000 and will be investing a minimum of $9 million into the project. Initial discussion indicates that phase 2 could include approximately 18,000 square feet in commercial space, with up to 48 upper-story residential units.
Following the presentation, Commissioner Gerald Watkins made a motion to table the ordinance for the agreement until after the pandemic. The motion failed, with Watkins and Richard Abraham voting to table the project.
The ordinance for the City Block Development Agreement will be up for a vote on August 11.
You can see the full presentation below.
