Carson : Bigger Tax Break for Hotel Gets Tentative OK

City officials have tentatively increased the tax break to be given to the developer of Carson’s Civic Center hotel in exchange for the developer’s withdrawal of a request for a $1.5-million city loan.

The City Council, acting as the Carson Redevelopment Agency, tentatively approved a request by the Feinberg Group, developer of the proposed Hilton, for a $2.4-million bed tax rebate to help finance the $25-million project.

In late April, officials had approved a proposal for a $1.5-million loan and what could amount to more than $1 million in bed tax rebates. The Feinberg Group asked for a larger tax rebate and no loan because it appeared easier to finance the long-sought hotel that way, a spokesman for the developer said.

The proposed Carson hotel, to be at 941 E. Carson St., has suffered a series of delays and uncertainties during the last two years. Carson officials have been seeking a high-quality development to attract revenue and esteem to the largely industrial city.

Officials this week tentatively approved the revised request, saying they would probably reduce the amount of the rebate when the matter is formally considered at a public hearing June 3. The rebate money is to be used, in part, for joint advertising of the hotel and the nearby Carson Community Center.

Councilwoman Vera Robles DeWitt opposed the larger rebate. “If we go forward with this, the city has taken a loss of $2.4 million,” she said. “I question how far we need to go to build a hotel in this city.”

Other council members maintained that the city will not receive any tax money if a hotel is not built and therefore is not losing any money.

The rebate, as proposed by the Feinberg Group, would return up to $350,000 a year in taxes to the developer for seven years.