Kalahari Resorts has given a local engineering firm the green light to draft a comprehensive set of plans necessary to get the proposed 700-room hotel and indoor-outdoor water park under construction.
Kalahari President Todd Nelson said in an e-mail yesterday that he believes he is making progress in his efforts to secure financing for the more than $250 million project amid the nearly frozen credit market that has resulted from the current recession.
Until he gets that financing, a concrete construction start date won't be known, but in the meantime, Nelson has taken a major step toward putting himself in a position to start quickly once he gets the money.
A few weeks ago, Nelson gave Keith Oster, vice president of Spotsylvania-based Prime Design Engineering, the go-ahead to complete the site plan for the massive project.
A site plan is the key document that any construction project needs to get under way. It provides the basis for all of the permits a builder must obtain.
For a project this big, it is a complex document that can take several months to review once it is submitted to the city's building permit office.
Oster said the task amounts to about six months of work for his three-person firm, and is a major boost during a slow economy.
He said he is on schedule to submit the plan to Fredericksburg by the end of this year.
"It's certainly a big financial commitment on [Nelson's] part," Oster said. "The certainty of it being built goes up when I'm asked to do this work. This is a move you make to make certain that when you do get financing, you don't have to wait six months for site plan approval" before starting construction.
Kalahari has also made smaller moves to build its ties to Fredericksburg. The company donated $5,000 to help save the Heritage Festival fireworks this year, according to event organizer Roberta Gold.
Kalahari is the anchor project in the Silver Cos.' plans for the Celebrate Virginia tourism complex.
The Wisconsin-based company plans to build a 700-room hotel and 200,000-square-foot indoor water park on 49 acres in Celebrate Virginia in Fredericksburg.
To lure the resort, the City Council approved an incentives package that includes a 47.5 percent rebate on all the park's local taxes for 20 years and more than $3 million in up-front fee waivers.
The property is adjacent to the Fredericksburg Expo and Convention Center, and it is anticipated that Kalahari will either buy or otherwise partner with that facility.
As a standalone facility, the Expo Center has had a hard time making a profit off of the conventions and meetings that the city would like to see it hosting.
Unlike events such as flea markets and boat shows, organizers of conventions and meetings typically want a steep discount on event space.
Most government- or hotel-owned centers can offer this discount and make up for it on local taxes or room rates, but the Expo Center's operators can't tap into those revenue sources.
A Kalahari partnership was thought to be key to solving that problem, but in the meantime, the city has proposed to help the Expo Center make up some of the revenue it loses by discounting its space for conventions.
In February, the Economic Development Authority agreed to match the roughly $40,000 that the city had available for this purpose in an Expo Center "opportunity fund" that was made up of money paid through a special tax on Celebrate Virginia landowners.
At this point, none of that money has been paid out yet, according to Acting Economic Development Director Karen Hedelt.
Hedelt said the city and Expo Center are still working out the details of exactly what the city may reimburse Expo for with those funds.
--Staff writer Bill Freehling contributed to this report.
Emily Battle: 540/374-5413
Email: ebattle@freelancestar.com