NATCHEZ—Hayes Dent, the developer working to renovate and open a new hotel at the now-closed Eola site, would like to contact the person whose vehicle was hit by falling stucco from the building on Friday afternoon.
Natchez photographer Ben Hillyer happened to be near the Eola Hotel on Friday when a slab of stucco fell from the building onto a car parked below. Hillyer said he could not tell if the parked car was damaged.
Nonetheless, Dent would like to apologize to the person, find out if the car suffered damage and perhaps pay for a detail service, he said.
In mid-April 2024, Dent and the building’s owners were forced to remove slabs of stucco that were at risk of falling from the building.
“The building is an older building. That’s why we are going to be using historic tax credits for part of the financing of the project,” Dent said. “We are doing the best we can to keep up the building given the circumstances of trying to redevelop the hotel. We have a local contractor who is called every time there is a problem. We also have a roof situation we are trying to get pinned down now. All of this is going on prior to the start of any kind of construction.”
Dent said the work to develop a new hotel at the Eola is very much ongoing.
“We are so deep now into the pre-development phase, our hope is in the coming weeks we are able to announce a franchise,” he said. “We also hope to be able to tease folks with what it is going to look like. All of that work is done. An incredible amount of work has been done. I joke about knowing what the matchbooks will look like and what the sleeves the keys will go into will look like. We have that. It’s done. We are excited to show the public that.”
Dent said the estimated cost of the project remains at $30 million.
“We don’t have every single rung of the capital ladder complete. The problem with a project like this is it is not a conventional finance structure. On a conventional project, you go to the bank and tell them you want to spend $10 on a hotel, and they tell you they’ll loan you $6, and you need to come up with the other $4.
“That’s not how this project will work. We will use historic tax credits and conventional tax credits and a host of other tourism incentives. That part of the project remains where it was last fall. We hope by the middle of April or so we can let people know what that means,” he said. “We have been very transparent about this project and will continue to be.”
Anyone with information about the person whose vehicle got hit by the stucco can email that to office@hayesdent.com.
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