Kentucky Horse Park Bond Plan is $118 million
Posted by Jennifer Karlen on Sunday, February 8th, 2009 at 9:05pm.
The Courier-Journal newspaper reported a story regarding the
Kentucky General Assembly, and the proposed Kentucky Horse Park Bond
Plan calling for $118 million.
This plan essentially calls for private real estate developers to construct a luxury hotel located at the KY Horse Park, and while the government would not be required to pay for any of the debt, it is ultimately responsible because it owns the real estate on which the proposed development would reside.
The plan was approved by the Capital Projects and Bond Oversight Committee on Tuesday February 19, 2008.
The estimates provided for the planned hotel are $88 million for the actual facility - with the remaining costs to be covered for debt service and interest carry for the project.
One of the real estate developers was Brad Burgess and he stated that the average room rate is going to be $184 per night, and that they project a 74% occupancy rate for the hotel in the KY Horse Park.
Plans call for a 267 room hotel flying under the Westin Hotel franchise flag and it would contain approximately 300,000 sq.ft. of space within the property. Part of the attraction for the proposal is to have the facility operational in time for the 2010 World Equestrian Games.
After the hotel is built, it would then transfer ownership to a non-profit organization that would apply any profits generated toward the Kentucky tourist and equestrian industries within the state.
Hopefully, the project will be a big success. Finding alternatives to create additional revenue streams for the KY horse farms industry within the state is a good long term strategic move. It creates the ability to establish a self generating and funded effort for the equine industry.