Appraiser suggested dumping hotel rooms for student apartments; Laverick borrows more money from previous owners
COLUMBIA, 11/17/12 (Beat Byte) -- A 34-page appraisal of the publicly-financed Tiger Hotel may help explain why the Columbia landmark's former owners keep lending money to the controversial British impresario who bought the hotel from them in March 2011.
The appraisal valued the Tiger at a mind-boggling $13,180,000 as of December 15, 2010. The Boone County assessor currently values it at $3,000,000.
Through his Columbia Hotel Investments, Glyn O. Laverick borrowed $400,000 in August and $400,000 again in September from the previous owners, putting his total indebtedness to them at roughly $5.14 million, deeds of trust recorded with Boone County show.
Known as Tiger Columns, LLC, the prior ownership group -- which includes former KFRU/KBXR radio station owners John Ott, Dave Baugher, and Al Germond -- also transferred their interest in a $1.8 million tax increment financing (TIF) package to Laverick and owner-financed the sale.The TIF -- an ongoing property tax break -- continues to languish, ever after several deadline extensions from the public agencies charged with its oversight. The 65-room renovation it is supposed to help fund has alternately started and stalled, while Laverick has been in hot water with room guests, and creditors from failed projects in other cities.Written by Columbia appraiser Adam Martin, who posted it online, the Tiger Hotel report is addressed to local real estate agent Dan Johnson, described as a "silent partner" by the hotel's former security manager, Robert Powell.
Martin (no relation to the Heart Beat publisher) used three valuation methods to determine the $13 million figure, accounting for earlier renovations which included "new sprinklers, updated plumbing, restored ball room, new basement bar, and all new roofing and HVAC systems, and updated electrical wiring."The appraisal assumed "an extensive renovation would soon be coming to an end."It also made a surprising recommendation: "convert all hotel rooms into student lofts." Martin calculated that four 1,500-square-foot lofts could be created on each of six floors, for a total of 24 lofts housing 96 tenants, 4 per $520 bedroom."Even in this rough housing market, there is still a large demand to be met: students who can easily pay $520, especially with far off-campus living such as The Cottages charging even more," Martin explained.RELATED:
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