MACON, Ga. — Macon-Bibb County commissioners approved a tall order Tuesday. To be exact, a 16-floor-tall order.
Last month, the county secured a deal to purchase the old downtown Macon Ramada hotel for $4.5 million. Commissioners unanimously approved it Tuesday, plus another $300,000 for closing costs.
Mayor Lester Miller hasn't said much about plans for the building. Now, he says: "Probably in the very near future, I think we'll hear an explosion."
Miller always said the county wasn't interested in buying it unless it involved seats at the implosion. That's what he told 13WMAZ via text in June, and what he reiterated last month when federal court documents showed the county had inked a deal.
But Miller says there's a long-term goal for the site too.
"We get site control, we bring a developer in to develop the property. We get out of it. The taxpayers are fully reimbursed over a land lease or a tax buyout. We're not interested in owning or operating a hotel," Miller explained.
He says it would work similarly to the East Bank Development on Coliseum Drive. Developers pitch ideas to the county, and the county gets to decide whether to let the developer build.
"Get the property ready for development, and then bring a master planner or developer in and develop the property at their expense. Then, we reap the benefits of that," Miller said.
Commissioners said last week they hadn't heard much about future plans. Some floated the idea of a smaller hotel. Others suggested a parking garage. Like Miller, many said the best thing would probably be to start fresh.
"The best thing for that hotel is to remember all the great memories we had there and the history of that, and look forward to another positive development there, which means that hotel is probably going to have to come down," Miller said.
They plan to close in the next 30 to 45 days, Miller says. Right now, they're completing due diligence and inspecting what's inside the hotel.
Commissioners also approved more than $4.3 million dollars in American Rescue Plan money for various organizations. They'll give $1 million to Crisis Line and Safe House of Central Georgia for the establishment of their One Safe Place Family Justice Center.
Another $2 million will go to the Centreplex and Carolyn Crayton Park for updated sporting equipment, and Keryx Ministries will get more than $670,000 for their free health clinic in Unionville.