- The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority on Sept. 7 approved issuing $3.56 million in bonds.
- The bonds will be repaid from tourism development district revenues.
- The village used the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority because its credit rating is expected to result in a lower interest rate.
CANTON − Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment Company, which operates Hall of Fame Village, will reduce its debt by refinancing the DoubleTree by Hilton Canton Downtown.
The overall refinancing package is expected to reduce the principal amount on the outstanding construction loan from $15.3 million to $11 million.
The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority agreed Sept. 7 to issue $3.56 million in bonds that will be repaid by tourist development district taxes collected on the hotel. The village has so far not disclosed the revenue collected from the district.
The money will go toward issuance costs, the village’s 10% primary debt service reserve fund and a portion of the principal of the hotel’s Erie Bank construction loan.
“Using the TDD proceeds to issue bonds through our bond fund program is a great example of our ability to use additional tools in our economic development toolkit to provide innovative solutions for projects,” said Rhonda Winslow, the Port’s vice president of development finance. a prepared statement.
The village used the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority because its credit rating will result in a lower interest rate, according to Anne Graffice, executive vice president of public affairs at the Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment Co. The exact interest rate will be determined when the bonds go to market.
The Stark County Port Authority approved a cooperative agreement with the Cleveland-area authority at its August meeting for the bonds to be issued.
Separately, the village is working with the Development Finance Authority of Summit County and the city of Canton to place another special assessment on the hotel property. The assessment will repay $2.75 million in bonds to be issued by the Development Finance Authority through a clean energy property assessment (PACE), which will also reduce the outstanding construction loan.
“We continue to make great progress in the village and are grateful to the many partners who work with us to make it all happen,” Graffice said in an email.
Reach Kelly at 330-580-8323 or kelly.byer@cantonrep.com On Twitter: @kbyerREP