Friday, February 24, 2012

Dora-Owned Hotel Next To Lucas Oil Stadium Files Bankruptcy

With all the talk of the financial boom Lucas Oil Stadium and the Super Bowl brought to downtown Indianapolis this month, this is a story that should bring discomfort to other downtown hotels as the city pours tens of millions more in public dollars into the construction of yet another hotel downtown not far from Lucas Oil Stadium. The Comfort Suites Hotel owned by a company controlled by former Capital Improvement Board member John Dora's family right next to the stadium has filed for bankruptcy.

The Comfort Suites City Centre on the southwestern fringe of downtown has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection, the latest sign of continued financial strains in the lodging industry.

Central Indiana hotels received a huge boost from the Super Bowl but still are reeling from the financial crisis. A surge in hotel construction led to sharp room discounting after the economy tanked in 2008.

The owner of the Comfort Suites City Centre, Warsaw Hotel Partners LLC, is an affiliate of Dora Brothers Hospitality Corp. in Fishers. Warsaw’s bankruptcy petition, filed Feb. 17, lists assets of $1 million to $10 million and liabilities of $10 million to $50 million. The largest creditor is New York-based German American Capital Corp., which is owed $12 million.

Comfort Suites City Centre, 515 S. West St., continues to operate, as is customary for hotels seeking to reorganize their debts through Chapter 11.
Did you catch that? "A surge in hotel construction led to sharp room discounting after the economy tanked in 2008." Yet Indianapolis taxpayers have subsidized the construction of three new hotels in recent years, including the Conrad Hilton, the JW Marriott and the yet-to-be constructed Dolce Hotel that is part of the North of South CityWay development, also on the Downtown's southside.

2 comments:

Downtown Indy said...

Dora Brothers

"INDIANAPOLIS, IN, February 05, 2006. Demolition on several vacant warehouses west of the new Stadium here will begin this week, making way for two new hotels. Tim and Bob Dora of Dora Brothers Hospitality Corp. purchased a 2-acre parcel from the city for $2.2 million for their new hotels.

"Tim Dora said city officials helped the company find and acquire the land after it was forced to sell its Comfort Inn at 530 S. Capitol Ave. under eminent domain laws. The hotel was in the footprint of the new stadium. The state paid the Dora's $12.8 million for the 143-room hotel."

I wonder where the money went?

Cato said...

When will downtown ever exhibit signs of success independent of taxpayer funding? Well over billions of taxpayer funding have been poured into downtown, yet the downtown economic engine always sputters to a halt once the taxpayer-dollars can of ether is pulled away from the carburetor.