As GlobeSt.com recently reported, the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union Local 14 has filed 5,000 petition signatures with the Denver Election Commission to stop the subsidy to Berger. The union wants the Hyatt to be completely neutral as it tries to organize employees, while the Hyatt wants the right to tell its side.
Berger says the vote, which probably will be held in November, is the only obstacle he faces on moving forward on the $220-million project. "This obstacle is out of my control," Berger tells GlobeSt.com. "I had been spending in excess of $100,000 a week on this project and now I have gone into a slow-mode. I'm keeping it alive, but I'm no longer spending millions on it until it is resolved."
Berger says banks understandably don't want to lend money on the project until the referendum issue is settled. He expects that the "will of the people" will be to defeat it.
Mayor Wellington Webb, a union supporter, is against the referendum. Webb says the union issue is a private one between Hyatt and the union and the city can't interfere. And some city council members believe the union vote is illegal because the city has an agreement with the Denver Urban Renewal Authority, which is supplying the subsidy and the contract between the city and it can't be put to a vote.
Union officials indicate they might sue if the city refuses to put the issue on the ballot. The fear, then, is that the project would be tied up in court for two years.
Berger says without the referendum cloud, he would have his bank financing in hand. He has been given some breathing room by DURA, though. Berger had been required to have a development agreement finalized and executed by Feb. 28. But DURA quietly has extended that deadline to June 30. It remains to be seen if DURA will need to extend the deadline again. Meanwhile, city council members have drafted a letter asking Webb to consider an alternate plan if the Berger plan doesn't go forward.
Berger says that won't happen. "I own the land clear and free, my agreement with Hyatt is firm and strong, I have the wherewithal to get it done. This is the best site for the hotel; this is the best deal for the city; and the best project for the economy."
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