Fort Wayne’s Burmese Advocacy Center has reopened in a new location, a move its leadership said reflects a commitment to the ongoing needs of the local refugee and immigrant population.Construction could be nearing on the Harrison Square hotel.
The building permit acquired by developer White Lodging for the $20 million downtown Courtyard by Marriott was set to expire today. But Dave Fuller, Allen County building commissioner, indicated there might be some progress on the project soon.
His office was contacted Wednesday by Shiel Sexton of Indianapolis, the contractor in charge of building the hotel. The contractor said financing for the hotel project had been acquired, and it wanted to make sure work could still be done under the existing permit, Fuller said.
"As long as they get going in the next week, two or 30 days, we’ll be fine using that permit," Fuller said.
Officials from White Lodging could not be reached to verify that financing had been secured, and city officials were unaware of any breakthrough. Hotel construction has been delayed several months because the developer has been unable to secure a loan to build it.
Last month, Deno Yiankes, White Lodging president and chief executive officer for investments and development, said White Lodging was in discussions with an Indiana lender and that his company should know in 30 days whether financing can be secured . That time frame also ends this week.
Greg Leatherman, Fort Wayne executive director of redevelopment, said he had not heard anything about financing being secured, adding that he would have been made aware of such a development.
The last update Leatherman heard was that White Lodging was still in discussions with the same lender and that there was optimism a deal would be done.
Mayor Tom Henry said he remained confident in the project, noting it would already have been started if not for the collapse of the economy.
"It’s going to happen," he said.
The hotel is an integral part of the $130 million Harrison Square development. Taxes paid by it are expected to help finance the adjacent baseball field and parking garage.
The developer paid $2,860.96 for the 90-day permit.
Fuller said his department doesn’t typically hold developers to strict deadlines, but if a permit languishes for any length of time, it will expire, and the developer will have to acquire a new one.
