Jackson Free Press

Two months after the city of Jackson unveiled an agreement with a developer to build a long-awaited downtown convention center hotel, those plans are now on hold.

At a city budget hearing this afternoon, Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba announced that a new bid request for a convention center hotel would be issued. The announcement came at the conclusion of a budget presentation by Willie Mott, executive director of the Jackson Redevelopment Authority.

During Mott's presentation for JRA's $1.4 million budget request from the city, several members of the Jackson City Council inquired about the progress of the convention center hotel project.

Mott responded that he could not comment on the deal's status, however. Earlier today, JRA board members went into executive session at the board's monthly meeting to discuss the proposed convention center hotel project and an update and call for action regarding the ongoing renovation of Farish Street.

In June, then-Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr., city officials and Jackson Convention Hotel LLC, operated by father-and-son team Robinson and Andre Callen, announced a plan to develop a $60 million, 305-room hotel across the street from the Jackson Convention Complex and connected to it via a skywalk. The developers would work with Hyatt Hotels to build a first-rate establishment with meeting areas, a full-service restaurant and parking.

Under that proposal, the city would be on the hook for $9 million in loans once the building is constructed, but that money can only be used to cover budget shortfalls for the first five years of operation. In early August, Texas-based development firm Journeyman Austin proposed a $70 million convention center hotel.

Lumumba said at today's budget hearing that one of the developers that has submitted a proposal would be rebidding, but did not say whether that company was Journeyman Austin or Callen Robinson.

It is unclear how the new request-for-proposals will affect the developers that have already bid. Representatives from neither firm attended today's budget hearing.

Mott of JRA said no timeline was been developed for reissuing the new bid request.