WLBT 3 - Jackson, MS: King Edward: A Go
By: Cheryl Lasseter
cheryl@wlbt.net
It's too soon for blueprints, but the transformation of the King Edward Hotel is underway. A New Orleans-based company called HRI Properties will draft the design specs. HRI stands for Historic Renovation Incorporated. The company has worked on more than 60 hotels; some looked just as bad as the King Edward to begin with.
David Watkins is one of the minority investors. He says we'll see mixed-use development at the East Capital/Mill Street site.
"The bottom two (floors) will be retail space, hotel meeting space, restaurants, bars, all that stuff, then the next five floors will be hotel rooms. Top five will be residential," Watkins says.
No tenants have signed on yet, but Watkins says there's already more interest in the retail space then they have room for. An old garage will be transformed into office space, and they're looking at three major tenants to lease it. An old pool will be replaced by a modern pool.
Right now there's a power generator tucked between the wings of the u-shaped hotel. That power house will be renovated into "Deuce's Powerhouse", a gym and spa named after investor and Saints runningback Deuce McAllister.
Watkins says the renovation will use zero tax dollars. In fact, by 2009 the hotel will generate about $400,000 in taxes yearly for the people.
As it stands, the King Edward has no supporting businesses around it. Commercial property here has been vacant for years. But Watkins says a bustling King Edward would be a catalyst. In a matter of time, new businesses should sprout up all along East Capital Street. "This development will open up all the development in downtown Jackson. It will fill (the west end of Capital Street) and we'll meet between here and the Convention Center," he says.
The only thing that could stop the King Edward development at this point is the discovery of a major structural problem that would take millions of dollars extra to correct.
Evidence of remediation work at the King Edward will be visible by mid-August. The new King Edward should open in the Summer of 2008.
