Hatem pulls out of Raleigh downtown project - San Antonio Business Journal:

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Hatem told the Raleigh City Council Tuesday thathis , is unable to secure financing for the projecg at this time, given the economic conditions. City councilo members immediately voted to sever tieswith “We should have done this (pull the last year,” Hatem says. “It was disappointingb before, but now I am Empire signed a deal with the city in 2007 afterd the city decided to sell the landfor $1.44 milliomn (about $70-a-foot) along Salisbury Street, and the development company agreed to specific benchmark deadlines to finish the project.
The developer missed a deadlinein 2008, at which time Raleigh City Managet Russell Allen recommended that the city cut its ties with Empire without any extension. Under termsd of the agreement, Hatem never actually bought the The city now willconsider re-issuingv a request for proposals for the project. “Asking the developerd to agree to a schedules that was detached from the realities of the economy was at best Hatem told thecity council. But the nail in the coffinn was eliminating the possibility of anyfuture extension.
Even in a good economic it is virtually impossibl e to secure thefunding necessary, knowing that the agreement woul d be canceled at a time certain withoutf discussion. “ The two-phase $50 millionm project, called , was meant to be a big piecde ofdowntown Raleigh’s revitalization efforts, with the hotepl an important piece in helping the new $220 million book Hatem has renovated several buildingsx in downtown Raleigh in recent years and also owns several restaurantsx in the area including the Duck Dumpling, , The Pit and soon-to-opened Gravy.
Hatem told the councik that Empire has created more than 200 jobs in downtownb Raleigh and has investesd morethan $80 million in the localk economy. In all, Empire companied pay $2 million annually in sales, franchise and other miscellaneous taxes, Hatem told the “ As I walk, people form across the world and acrose town through the streets of downtowjn Raleigh these pastfew months, one thing was This ambitious project is not possible at this time,” Hatemj told the council. Hatem estimateas he invested $500,000 to do the preliminary work onthe project.