* WARNING: THIS IS AN UNOFFICIAL, INTRODUCTORY COPY OF THE BILL.
THE OFFICIAL COPY CONSIDERED BY THE CITY COUNCIL IS THE FIRST READER COPY.
INTRODUCTORY*
CITY OF BALTIMORE
COUNCIL BILL R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Stokes
A RESOLUTION ENTITLED
A COUNCIL RESOLUTION concerning
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Informational Hearing - Convention Center Hotel
FOR the purpose of requesting that representatives of the Baltimore Hotel Corporation, Baltimore Development Corporation, and the Department of Finance participate in a hearing before the City Council to provide information about the current financial situation of the City’s Convention Center Hotel and what measures are being undertaken to improve its financial performance.
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The financial health of the City-owned Convention Center Hotel has been a concern of the Baltimore City Council for several years. The hotel opened in August 2008, 2 years after the Mayor and City Council issued more than $300 million in tax-exempt bonds to finance the hotel’s construction. Unfortunately shortly thereafter, the U.S. suffered a major economic downturn, which is still affecting many cities, including Baltimore.
In September 2011, Moody’s Investor Service downgraded the hotel bonds but noted the untapped reserves as a strength of the bonds.
In May 2012, an article in the Baltimore Sun reported that the City-owned Baltimore Convention Center Hotel had lost nearly $11.5 million in 2011, about $400,000 more than it had lost in the previous year, according to the 2011 audit that was obtained from the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board. In addition to losing money last yea...
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