Mar. 9—CUMBERLAND — City officials Tuesday discussed funding a financial shortage for the planned Wills Hotel in the McCleave Building on Baltimore Street.
Roughly $4 million was estimated to renovate the building, but subsequent bids for the project came in at least $600,000 higher, Cumberland Administrator Jeff Silka said and added that the building’s owners reached their debt limit.
To make up the difference, the city plans to contribute $100,000, and $250,000 each will come from Allegany County and the Senator George C. Edwards Fund, he said.
“They can’t move forward … without the additional funding,” Silka said.
Owners for the building could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Silka referred the Cumberland Times-News to Ruth Davis-Rogers, the city’s historic preservation planner, who refused to provide contact information for Brian Gilbride, one of the building’s owners.
“He said he really isn’t ready for any publicity yet,” she said via email.
“It’s not unusual for building and business owners, as well as non-profits, to receive grants and funding,” Davis-Rogers said.
“Usually the money allocated to do this does not come from local tax dollars but from money awarded to governments to help businesses,” she said.
Building plans
The McCleave Building, designed before 1875, is one of two Italianate-style buildings on Baltimore Street.
According to state planning officials, its most prominent feature “is a highly decorative cornice along the street-facing facades and upper window ornamentation.”
The Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation lists the 13,418-square-foot building owner as Ohio-based 69 Baltimore LLC.
According to city officials, the interior of the structure, built in 1900, is in poor condition and set to be overhauled as a 20-room boutique hotel that caters to tourists, corporate guests and bicyclists.
Plans for the building also include a restaurant on the first floor.
Financial incentives
The building, most recently home of the Manhattan Social restaurant that closed after the COVID-19 pandemic, was one of 10 Maryland properties chosen to receive financial incentives for improvements last year.
According to the state’s planning department in December, the Maryland Historical Trust awarded more than $20 million in historic revitalization tax credits for the projects.
Eighteen applicants sought more than $55 million in tax credits for construction projects that total more than $305 million in estimated costs.
Projects selected for the 2024 tax credits were based on an established set of criteria, including those outlined by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior for historic building rehabilitations.
The McCleave Building was awarded $1.4 million in tax credits.
‘Key piece’
Cumberland’s mayor and City Council appeared supportive of the $100,000 contribution to the business on Tuesday.
“I’m on board,” Councilman Eugene Frazier said.
“I think it’s a very significant building,” Councilwoman Laurie Marchini said. “It brings a lot to Baltimore Street.”
The council plans to vote next month on the city’s financial contribution to the project.
Jake Shade, executive director for the George Edwards Fund, on Thursday said he anticipates the organization will approve its $250,000 share.
“It will be on the agenda Monday,” he said.
Jeff Barclay, director of Allegany County’s economic and community development department, said funding from the three groups is necessary.
“This is how we solve the gap and we get this project moving,” he said Thursday.
The boutique hotel and restaurant will provide a “key piece” to the success of the Baltimore Street project, Barclay said.
“I think that’s why we’re seeing everyone come together to solve the funding gap issue,” he said.
City and county staffs, as well as elected officials, have worked well together on the Wills Hotel as well as other projects, Barclay said.
“We’re in a good place right now,” he said. “The momentum is great.”
Teresa McMinn is a reporter for the Cumberland Times-News. She can be reached at 304-639-2371 or [email protected].
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