A closer look at the specifics of the study by the Georgia Tech Enterprise Innovation Institute (GTEII) on the fiscal impact of the Great Wolf Lodge proposal coming before the Peachtree City Council on April 16 shows estimated gross tax revenues of $32.9 million over a 15-year period and net revenues to the city of $31.5 million.
The analysis projects the various impacts in Peachtree City and in Fayette County over the next 15 years. The analysis includes revenue areas that include sales tax and property tax and a host of other revenue sources such as franchise fees, alcohol beverage tax and revenue from permits.
Pertaining to Peachtree City, total gross revenues over the 15-year period were projected at $32.9 million and net revenues totaling $31.5 million after $1.39 million in city expenses.
For gross revenues, sales tax for the first year is projected at $7,176 while in the second year that number jumps to $963,202. Sales tax revenues beginning in the third year are projected at $1.6 million and, through year 15, sales tax revenues are projected at approximately $2.3 million annually. Total sales taxes over the 15-year period were projected at $30,268,337. By far the largest share of sales tax revenues, totaling $28 million over 15 years, would come from visitor excise taxes, the city’s 8 percent hotel/motel tax.
Property taxes for Peachtree City over the 15-year period would total $2.12 million. First year property taxes were projected at $20,243 and would jump to $181,233 in the second year. Property taxes from the third year forward, in decreasing fashion, total $201,808 to $109,501.
There would be a number of other revenue sources associated with the Great Wolf project.
A sampling of those over the 15-year period show franchise fees totaling $134,428, alcohol beverage tax revenues at $36,190, revenue from permits at $23,002 and miscellaneous fees from the facility and employees at $150,737.
The $31.5 million in net revenues was tallied after the $1.39 million in expenses to the city were accounted for over the 15-year period. Those expenses included areas such as general government, public works, public safety and recreation/libraries.
Pertaining to Fayette County, total gross revenues over the 15-year period were projected at $6 million with total county expenses at $2.24 million, for a net revenue of $3.73 million.
Total sales tax for the 15-year period was tallied at $3.4 million and with property taxes projected at $1.96 million for the same period.
An issue that came to light last week dealt with the potential that the owner of Great Wolf Resorts may be posturing to sell the chain of family-oriented resort hotels to private equity firm Centerbridge Partners LP.
According to a report from Reuters, private equity firm Centerbridge Partners LP has reached a deal to acquire Great Wolf Resorts Inc. for $1.35 billion. Great Wolf is the nation’s largest operator of indoor water parks and is looking to make a move to Peachtree City at the current site of the Dolce Atlanta-Peachtree Hotel and Resort on Aberdeen Parkway.
Great Wolf is currently owned by private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC, according to Reuters. Apollo took the company private in 2012 with a price tag of $703 million.
Reuters stated that Centerbridge prevailed in an auction for Great Wolf by agreeing to pay the equivalent of more than 10 times the company’s annual earning before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization.
As pertains to Peachtree City, Great Wolf if proposing to spend $40 million on construction, $32 million on personal property including amusements and $4 million on soft costs related to construction activity, according to the GTEII study.
The report concluded that with “nearly half a million visitor nights expected at full operation, it is estimated that the economic impact of the Great Wolf Lodge on Fayette County would be more than $75 million and would generate 400 new jobs in Peachtree City and nearly 770 jobs across the economy resulting in more than $20 million in local personal income.”
Great Wolf Lodge currently operates 13 family-oriented, all-suites water park resorts. The only facility in the Southeast is located in Charlotte, N.C.
Peachtree City Convention and Visitors Bureau Chair and Dolce General Manager Wende Blumberg at the CVB meeting in January said that GE Capital, the owner of Dolce hotels, does not typically hold properties such as Dolce, adding that the property has been on the market.
Blumberg said that if the sale to Great Wolf does not go through that management has presented a plan to do extensive remodeling of the facility and that the owners would not put the property back on the market, according to the minutes of the January meeting.
Wyndham Hotel Group, a subsidiary of Wyndham Worldwide, announced Feb. 2 it had acquired Dolce Hotels and Resorts, a leading provider and manager of group accommodations with a portfolio of 24 properties and over 5,500 guest rooms across seven countries in Europe and North America, for $57 million in cash, according to a company press release.
The Dolce property has been up for sale for at least the past two years. The property is listed on the Fayette County tax rolls with a fair market value of $8.155 million. Dolce paid $30 million for the Aberdeen Woods Conference Center in 2007.
The Peachtree City Council on March 19 granted a third postponement of the Great Wolf proposal that would establish one of its water park resorts on the 38-acre Dolce site.
The council will hear the proposal on April 16.
