The city of McKinney has finally won a two-year battle for control of its stalled hotel and convention center project.
The city announced Tuesday that it had gained control of the entire 90-acre Gateway parcel at the Central Expressway-State Highway 121 interchange. The development was to include a hotel, events center and retail complex.
Construction stopped on the hotel and convention center in October 2008 when money for the project dried up. The developer, which was owned by California-based O&S Holding, filed for bankruptcy nearly a year later.
It took lawsuits to break the public/private partnership, but the settlement gives the city ownership and control of the entire 90-acre Gateway parcel and the work completed thus far.
"The city in the prior arrangement had a developer which had its ideas on the project,” city attorney Mark Houser said. “Now we don’t have to go through the decisions of another developer, we can make those decision.”
McKinney and the McKinney Community Development Corp. obtained control of the hotel site, which was sold at auction in October, last month.
Engineers are evaluating the work that has already been done.
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McKinney could decide to continue with its original plan, slightly modify it or scrap all of it and start over.
House said that the city is financially better off, even after all of the delays.
"Construction costs are down," he said. "We hope that when we get bids on the project that we’ll actually come in lower than we did on the original bid price."
The City Council could rebid the project in early 2011 if everything goes to plan.
