The Prince George?s County Council cleared the way Tuesday for work to begin on a 500-room expansion at a National Harbor hotel and convention center being built along the banks of the Potomac River.
Hours of public testimony and closed-door conversations unclogged an impasse between the county and Gaylord National, which threatened to pull the expansion if a bill was passed with fines linked to the bonds.
The council was poised to pass an amendment applying only to 500 of the 2,000 rooms to be built at Gaylord National that would have penalized the company by withholding half of its $50 million in bonds if less than 15 percent of the expansion?s construction and operation contracts were awarded to minority-owned businesses. The Tennessee-based hotelier now faces up to $21 million in out-of-pocket fines if it does not meet minority hiring quotas.
Camille Exum, D-District 7, of Laurel and council vice chair, said the resulting agreement was precedent setting for minority business owners and said the county will make sure Gaylord fills the requirement within reason.
“We won?t argue decimal points,” Exum said.
A Gaylord executive flew in for Tuesday?s vote and County Executive Jack Johnson addressed the council for 30 minutes on why the expansion was vital to the county. Others, including a state senator and minority business owners who had and had not won Gaylord contracts, also addressed the council for about two hours.
A Washington businessman said the National Harbor project was “the greatest transfer of wealth” in the history of the county.
“We?re not asking for anything out of the ordinary,” Terry Speigner said, urging the council to stand firm on the bill. “If not you, then who? And if not now, then when?”
A Mitchellville man questioned the wisdom of the council walking away from the deal.
“If there is no expansion, there is no work for the minority businesses or anyone else,” said Samuel Moki.
The expansion will bring 200 permanent hotel jobs to the county and more than $5 million in tax revenue per year. The $133 million project is eclipsed in size, scope and investment in the county only by the 1,500-room initial phase of Gaylord National. During the next three years, Gaylord will give the Prince George?s Community College a total of $1 million to help fund a start-up hospitality program at the school.
