Frederick Mayor and Board of Aldermen Business Meeting & Workshop – July 10, 2024
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Frederick Mayor and Board of Aldermen Business Meeting & Workshop – July 10, 2024
This meeting was a combined Business Meeting and Workshop held on July 10, 2024. The Business Meeting approved routine items, including minutes and a special ordinance. The Workshop focused on a comprehensive update on the Downtown Hotel and Conference Center project, with detailed presentations from city staff, the developer (Plumondon Hospitality Partners), and the Randall family (owners of adjacent properties). The board discussed financing, public benefits, and next steps, while members of the public and state officials offered testimony. The board reached consensus to move forward with key agreements, though some aldermen requested further financial clarity.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes: June 5, 2024 (workshop) and June 12, 2024 (meeting) were approved by a vote of 4-0 (Alderman McShane absent).
- Special Ordinance: Ordinance to amend the budget for Clustered Spires Golf Course maintenance expenses was approved without separate discussion, passed 4-0.
Public Comments & Testimony
Several individuals and organizations expressed strong support for the hotel and conference center project. Key speakers and their positions included:
- Senator Karen Lewis Young (District 3): Expressed full support, called the project the best economic development opportunity in 40 years, and urged the board not to let perfection be the enemy of the good. She noted the governor supports it as an excellent investment in the community.
- Delegate Kerr and Delegate Simpson: Voiced support.
- Rick Weldon (President/CEO, Frederick County Chamber of Commerce): Cited the project as the chamber's number one civic infrastructure priority for over 30 years, and introduced business leaders who stood in solidarity.
- Dwayne Myers (Chamber Board Chair): Representing 975 member organizations, he stressed the project grows all businesses and brings visitors.
- Dave Zidellis (Executive Director, Visit Frederick): Stated the project is a “game changer” and that they are routinely contacted by events that cannot be hosted without proper facilities.
- Cara Norman (Downtown Frederick Partnership): Expressed continued support, citing the need for large meeting space, additional market for downtown businesses, and further activation of Carroll Creek.
- John Funderburg (Resident): Noted that many residents are excited and frustrated by delays, but enthusiastic about more foot traffic.
- Kate Hermit (Resident and author): Urged bold leadership, comparing the project to past visionary moves like flood control and burying power lines.
- Sharon Pachenick (New resident): Supported the project but cautioned about preserving Frederick's “heart” and avoiding pricing out locals, citing negative examples from other cities.
Discussion Items
- Downtown Hotel and Conference Center Update: Presenters included Mayor, Richard Griffin (Economic Development Director), Pete Plumondon (Plumondon Hospitality Partners), and Will Randall (Randall family).
- The project is a public-private partnership for a full-service Marriott-branded hotel with 208 rooms, 21,000 sq ft meeting space, four food and beverage outlets, a rooftop terrace, and restoration of the historic Trolley Building (retail/office) and Eagles Building (music venue/brewery). Total project cost is approximately $101 million.
- Public funding breakdown: ~28% ($28 million) from public sources: City parking fund ($2M for land acquisition, pending land ownership), County ($2.52M), and State of Maryland ($23.5M requested, including $1M DHCD grant received, $7.5M from Governor’s capital budget in FY25, and additional requests for FY26-27). The remaining ~72% is private debt and equity.
- Public benefits cited: estimated $1.5 billion in economic impact over 25 years, $60 million annually in direct/indirect/induced spending, 200 hospitality jobs, 227 below-grade public parking spaces, increased tax revenue (current land pays <$100K/year; projected ~$1.7M/year from hotel and conference center), and support for diverse festivals and events.
- The proposed timeline: site plan approval sought by August 12, 2024; HPC Level 2 approvals; legal agreements in fall 2024; project closing and construction start in summer 2025.
- Key legal next steps: approval of $1M DHCD grant agreement at July 18 public hearing; consensus to develop master developer agreements; city assignment of land purchase agreements; ground lease with developer (99-year term, phased rent around $82,842/year starting after year 4, with tax payments by developer after construction).
- Board Questions and Discussion:
- Alderman Shackleberg raised concerns about clarity of public dollars, separating true public contributions (grants, tax rebates) from private financing, and requested a detailed pro forma including ground lease forgiveness, tax projections, and a history of city contributions to similar projects.
- Alderman McShane (via video) asked about traffic impacts and stressed the need for transparent accounting of public funding, particularly the parking fund transfer and the distinction between “public parking” and “publicly owned parking.”
- Other aldermen expressed general support, noting the project’s long history, strong community backing from business and state partners, and the need for bold economic development.
- Staff clarified that the parking fund contribution is for land acquisition (city retains land asset), and that tax rebates (lodging tax rebate up to 80% for 25 years) are separate from the $101M budget and are intended to service debt on public amenities (conference center, parking).
Key Outcomes
- Consensus reached to proceed with developing formal master developer agreements, assignment of land purchase agreements, and a ground lease with the developer.
- Approval of DHCD grant (July 18 public hearing): The board expressed general intent to accept the $1 million grant, though Alderman Shackleberg indicated she would vote for it but wants complete financial transparency before supporting further public contributions.
- Request for additional information: Alderman Shackleberg asked for a clear, itemized list of all public dollars (present and future, including forgone taxes/rebates) and a pro forma of expected tax revenues and ground lease payments. Staff agreed to provide this.
- No formal vote taken on the workshop items; the consensus allows city staff to continue negotiations and prepare legal documents for future board consideration.
- Next steps: July 18, 2024 – public hearing on DHCD grant; fall 2024 – return of draft master developer and ground lease agreements for board approval; coordination with Frederick County for state capital grant expenditures.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon and welcome to the Mayor and Board of Alderman Business Meeting and Workshop for the 10th of July. We begin with the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. Underground Liberty and Justice. We have minutes to approve June 5th, 2024 workshop. So moved. Motion by Alderman Shackerbert, second by Alderman McZemC, all those in favor. That is 4-0. With Alderman McShane not present, we do expect him to join us shortly. June 12th, 2024 minutes. So moved. Motion by Alderman Shackleberg, second by Alderman McZemCek. All those in favor. That is 4-0. Thank you very much. We have one business, one agenda under our business meeting today. Items on the business meeting are considered routine by the mayor and board of alderman heard at the workshop pursuant to the rules of procedure. Approved by one motion without separate discussion of each item, unless any person present request an item be removed from the agenda. An item that is removed will be considered separately, either at the end of the business meeting or at a regular public meeting. If you would like any of the items below considered separately, please say so when I announce the category. The category special ordinances. So moved. Motion by Alderman Shackleberg, second by Otterman McZemc. All those in favor, that is 4-0. That's the number we need. Thank you very much. Today we are here to provide an update to the Board of Alderman and the community on the status of our downtown hotel and conference center project. This is going to be a fairly comprehensive conversation this morning about where we are in a number of different areas and looking to gain consensus from the Board of Aldermen on some next steps in this process. By way of uh introduction for those who may never have heard of this project before, uh, which seems difficult to believe, but there are folks who are new to our community and may not be aware of where we are. Some of this will seem repetitive to some of you who have been around for a little while. We don't want to dwell on the repetitive nature of that, but it is important for us to place aspects of this project into a broader context. And so we have for a number of years seen this project as a transformative opportunity in downtown Frederick. It has the support of the city, the county, the state, our economic development partners, the broader business community, uh, and it identifies and is an attempt to fill a long-identified need, which is full service lodging with uh scalable meeting and event space in downtown Frederick that can also look at broader economic development, revitalization, and equity opportunities across the community. This project has been identified in our 2020 city comprehensive plan. It is identified within the adopted strategic plan of the City of Frederick, and for as long as there has been a Carroll Creek Master Plan, the idea of a hotel along the creek has been part of the vision of the redevelopment of downtown Frederick. There is no full service hotel anywhere presently in Frederick County. And with the exception of the soon-to-be-opened 67-room boutique visitation academy hotel, there is no large-scale overnight lodging available in the downtown of Frederick. So this is a strategic opportunity and has been for a number of years. It is and has been approved in the city's capital improvements program for a number of years, uh, allocating the city, the county, and now some state funding that has been uh identified for the project. The location of the parcel is central to downtown Frederick and provides a great gateway opportunity to redevelopment opportunities that are now approaching on the east side of the City of Frederick. It's within a stone's throw of our downtown transit center, which is an opportunity for us to invest in the kind of transit-oriented development that smart and sustainable growth principles require us to do. It is also conveniently located to downtown parking, retail, restaurants, and the city's theater district. A full service hotel and conference center will be a crown jewel opportunity, the largest single investment made in downtown Frederick since the investment of the flood control project that was done begun more than 40 years ago. So our project partners are in the room. Many of them are with us, and we could not be where we are right now without the support of those partners really from day one. And it includes previous work by the Board of Alderman, by Frederick County, our state partners, which we are grateful to have received that support. We appreciate what you have been able to do, our hotel partners and a relatively uh new introduction, which you'll get an opportunity to hear a little bit more about the role that uh Randall Capp and the Randall family is playing as we move this project towards uh completion. And so there are some specific asks we're hoping to get out of uh this meeting today. We certainly want to answer as many questions as the board may have. We hope that the presentation today will address some of those questions which we have already heard, uh, but perhaps uh answer questions that you may have been considering.
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