Live USA will receive $450,000 in Cataract Tourism Funds for its 472 Main St. hotel renovation project, one month after receiving $2.25 million in Niagara County Industrial Development Agency tax incentives.
The $16 million project at the vacant 80-room Howard Johnson hotel would turn the property into a rock-themed attraction called Hotel Live! The hotel would include rooms themed to different genres, a $2.8 million music venue with regularly scheduled live music, and a $1.5 million celebrity-endorsed restaurant and bar.
IDA Counsel Mark Gabriele said this grant funding would only go toward the music venue and restaurant, not toward the actual renovations which would violate the grant. The rest of the project’s funding would come from the developer’s equity.
The grant is reimbursable, so Live Inc. would not get funding until it provides proof of expenditures.
Documentation requesting Cataract funding states the hotel plans to bring in tour operator groups for overnight accommodations, leisure market travelers from places like Cleveland, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Erie, Rochester and Syracuse, and local residents wanting to do a “staycation.”
Other listed funding sources include $11.65 million of bank funding, $2.4 million in equity, and $1.5 million from Empire State Development.
Overall, it plans to support 52 new jobs after three years of completion, 32 full-time and 20 part-time, with an estimated salary range of between $45,000 and $65,000 and an annual payroll of $1.8 million.
The Cataract Tourism Fund is meant to encourage tourism-oriented development in downtown Niagara Falls.
The previously granted tax incentives include $1.52 million in property tax exemptions, $660,000 in sales tax exemptions, and $75,000 for mortgage recording tax exemptions.
The site is also home to a planned helium balloon ride at the former Rainbow Air and Hummingbird Helicopters pad site. That project had faced delays due to a rebar shortage and hoped for a summer opening, but work is still ongoing.
Live Inc. did not respond to questions on the balloon project.