PINE BLUFF -- Pine Bluff officials have made a preliminary offer of $500,000 for a shuttered hotel that's attached to the city's civic center complex.
Owner Bruce Rahmani closed the Plaza Hotel earlier this month, saying the city-owned convention center has been uncooperative in helping to schedule guest stays and citing a recent theft of $25,000 from the property's office.
Pine Bluff Mayor Debe Hollingsworth and the City Council met Monday to approve making the offer and discuss details. The city's offer hinges on a pending property appraisal. The Jefferson County assessor's office has previously appraised the hotel at $612,000.
If the city's appraisal falls below $500,000, the offer will be amended to that amount, aldermen decided Monday. If it is more than $500,000, the city will negotiate with Rahmani.
Rahmani had originally offered the property to the city for $3 million or a $20,000-per-month lease. Regardless of a sale or lease price, Rahmani has told the city that the hotel needs at least $1 million in upgrades before it can be reopened.
Rahmani lives in Denver. Attempts to reach him for comment were unsuccessful.
The land on which the Plaza Hotel stands is owned by the city, and Alderman Stephen Mays said the city should seize the opportunity to claim the building and lease the hotel to a national chain.
The five-story hotel originally opened in 1989 as the Wilson World Hotel. It has been losing money for the past several years and has had six owners.
Shortly after Rahmani purchased and remodeled the hotel, it gained franchise status with Ramada hotels. However, Ramada discontinued its affiliation years later when the condition of the property sank below the chain's standards, hotel officials said at the time.
State Desk on 08/27/2015