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The Anaheim City Council has approved tax incentives for three new luxury hotels, the first to be built under a policy that was approved last June.
The policy provides builders of new hotels that meet AAA's four-diamond rating a refund of 70% of the bed tax they collect from guests during the first 20 years of operation. Guests currently pay a 15% bed tax.
The benefit for the three hotels is estimated at $560 million over 20 years.
One of the hotels that was approved is Disneyland's new 700-room hotel [photo above] set to be built on 10 acres at the north end of the Downtown Disney parking lot. Construction would begin in 2018 for a scheduled 2021 opening.
According to Mary Niven, Senior Vice President of Disneyland Resort Operations, Disney had no plans to build a new hotel until this new incentive policy was approved.
Another property that was approved is a 580-room hotel [photo above] to to be built on the current site of the Anaheim Plaza Hotel & Suites by Good Hope International, an affiliate of Wincome Group.
Wincome Goup's FJS Inc. will be building the final property approved, a 630-room hotel on the site of the Anabella Hotel.
After several hours of public comment, the incentives packages were approved in a 3-1 vote.
The three new hotels join 2 other proposed luxury hotels, including a JW Marriott, to be built near Anaheim GardenWalk. Those projects were approved under a different incentive program.
Currently Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa and the Disneyland Hotel are the only AAA four-diamond properties in Anaheim.
Source: Orange County Register
