An unnamed business could request tax incentives to redevelop the historic but run-down Alexander Inn, city officials said Friday.
The Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board could hear a few brief summary of the proposal during a meeting this afternoon, although few details are publicly available. The potential owner or developer could request tax increment financing, or TIF, which uses new property tax revenues generated at a site to pay for improvements.
On Friday, Oak Ridge officials said they only have preliminary information.
“This may come our way,” IDB Chairman Bill Biloski said. He said he doesn’t have a client name or TIF amount.
Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said the TIF could be requested before the end of the year.
Famous scientists and Manhattan Project leaders once stayed at the Alexander Inn, a vacant, two-story hotel in Jackson Square, and historic preservationists have lobbied to save it for years.
As part of an East Tennessee Technology Park agreement announced Aug. 10, the U.S. Department of Energy said it is giving a $500,000 grant to the East Tennessee Preservation Association to help save the hotel. The grant will be used to buy the property and stabilize the structure until the inn can be transferred to a private developer.
Officials said the ETPA could receive the grant within 30 days.
Today’s IDB meeting begins at 4 p.m. in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Training Room.
