By John Temple Ligon Graphic courtesy of Windsor/Aughtry

Senate Street front and Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse entry at the new Hilton between the State House and the Convention Center

Windsor/Aughtry of Greenville, the owner of Gervais Street’s Hampton Inn and the developer of the headquarters Hilton on Senate Street, said last week the construction contract for the 222–room Hilton should be signed in the second week of October. Back drawing and value engineering are the two activities mostly taking all the time over the summer.

Developer Bo Aughtry of Windsor/ Aughtry said M.B. Kahn was about ready to come to the table, sign the contract, and get on with construction, certainly by the end of October.

Cost increases have been the biggest challenge since the city awarded the deal to Windsor/Aughtry, late spring ’04. Richland School District One, for instance, has begun its hundreds of millions in new construction and renovation. All the local suppliers and construction crews are busy.

Another threat: $50 billion in federal rebuilding money going to the Gulf coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. That kind of spending is bound to have a ripple effect even this far away. Plus, interest rates are still on the upward creep. The Federal Open Markets Committee was expected Tuesday, September 20, to raise rates another 0.25% for the 11th straight quarter of similar action.

The toughest hits, however, possibly came from the Columbia Design and Development Review hearings where appointed and concerned citizens pushed the hotel design into millions of dollars’ worth of in-creased costs for aesthetic (and personal) preferences.

As Windsor/ Aughtry pushed and pulled with the city’s critics of forms and finishes and colors and even entry can-opies, maybe another 10% could be seen added to the total cost.

Also over the summer, a run to Windsor/Aughtry’s pockets by fellow Congaree Vista merchants and property owners took place in the form of a burgeoning Vista business improvement district.

As owner of the Hampton Inn, the tax increase to support the business improvement district would have cost another $10,000, according to Aughtry. Already paying Columbia and Richland County taxes at a rate twice what other Windsor/Aughtry hotel properties pay elsewhere, Aughtry had to object to any new $10,000 tab while his Hilton was still waiting to break ground. One can guess the potential hit on the new Hilton by tripling the Hampton Inn’s expected contribution to the business improvement district.

Representatives of Windsor/Aughtry came to City Hall recently to suggest a better, cheaper way to the city and to the organizers of the Vista business improvement district. For now, they said, drop the drive for the new Vista business improvement district. An impressive collection of fellow Vista property owners chimed in, and the organizers withdrew their request for city support and went back to the drawing board.

The current tax take for the Gervais Street Hampton Inn is $169,122.26, or $1,375 per room for 122 rooms. Again, that’s twice the rate for taxes paid at five other Windsor/Aughtry hotel properties in the region, from Greensboro to Tallahassee.

Columbia took sharp tax criticism about a year ago in The Columbia Star when it was confirmed a $200,000 house in Columbia paid twice the property taxes of a $200,000 house in Charleston.

With a hundred rooms more than the Hampton Inn and far higher value per room, the new $30 million Hilton can expect to pay annual property taxes in a range well above $700,000 at today’s rates in the first full year of operation. With property tax rates twice anywhere else Windsor/Aughtry has hotels in the region, the question before Columbia City Council and Richland County Council should be, “What are the services provided for twice the rate in taxes? Why in the world is anyone considering business improvement district tax assessments from property owners in the region’s highest tax take?”

Another question lingering in Columbia is the status of the headquarters hotel’s food vendor, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, one of America’s most sought after restaurant chains. Still on board to stay on board, according to Windsor/ Aughtry, Ruth’s Chris logo sign will appear on the Senate Street facade near the entry canopy that says Hilton. Early risers can expect the best steak and eggs in the region.

Windsor/Aughtry and M.B. Kahn are about to sign their construction contract, which means a team of local elected officials is expected to soon stand abreast with gold– painted shovels in hand for the cameras, and a new convention center Hilton Hotel gets under way. Finally.