Downtown Hotel Project Would Need To Start Over

If a group wants to move forward with a downtown Cookeville hotel, the process will essentially be starting over.

“Everything is expired in terms of approval, so they basically have to start over,” City Manager James Mills said. “We consider it basically starting from scratch.”

Incentives provided by the City of Cookeville for a downtown hotel project have expired. Construction had to begin by July, 2019 and be completed by December, 2021.

“That resolution and the agreement specified a specific start date and that date has expired,” Mills said.

Cookeville City Council approved an incentive plan for the hotel project in July, 2018. The financing plan called for the city and Putnam County to give up some of the increased property taxes earned on the hotel, convention center, and retail space for 20 years.

Now, the two groups that had come together to build the project are in a legal battle. Auxin-Wilson Project, LLC plans to foreclose on DW Interests next Monday to bring the piece of property at 9 South Cedar Avenue into its ownership group. Auxin-Wilson said in a statement Friday it continued to be interested in a hotel or “for another use” to enhance downtown Cookeville.

Mills said the city hopes to see something happen with the property.

“The property will eventually be developed,” Mills said. “We do think it’s an ideal location for some type of development that would augment and benefit the downtown area.”

Mills said the city began working on the project in 2016. A final site plan was never approved for the project.