McDowell County and Marion move to back downtown hotel with joint incentive agreement

McDowell County commissioners voted on Jan. 13 to proceed with a joint incentive package with the City of Marion to support the redevelopment of a downtown Marion property into a four-story Marriott-branded hotel.

The vote followed a public hearing where county economic development staff and the developer described a project they said would replace a former bank at the corner of Fort and North Main streets with a roughly 75–100-room hotel, ground-floor retail and on-site parking. The developer and county staff described a private development valued at about $15 million to $20 million and said they expect roughly 10 full-time positions at opening.

County economic development consultant Chuck Abernathy and representatives from Benchmade Ventures presented project details during the public hearing that the board required under state law for the proposed incentive. Abernathy said the property is under contract with that contract expiring in about five weeks; staff asked the board to adopt an incentive agreement that would secure the property and structure performance-based payments if the project moves forward.

Why it matters: County and city leaders said the hotel would bring visitors downtown, increase lodging and sales tax receipts, and support local restaurants and retailers. City officials told the board the Marion City Council had unanimously and enthusiastically approved an identical incentive agreement at its most recent meeting.

What the agreement would do: Under the proposed terms already approved by Marion, each unit of government (city and county) would make three payments distributed across three fiscal years, totaling $499,000 from each entity (the packet lists the payments as performance-based and tied to construction/operational benchmarks). If the developer fails to complete the hotel by the negotiated deadline, the property would revert to city and county ownership under the agreement language presented to the board.

Developer presentation and numbers: Benchmade Ventures said it would develop the site for a Marriott-branded hotel (the presenters identified that Marriott is the operator/brand partner). Company representatives estimated direct hotel revenues of roughly $4 million annually and stated commonly used economic multipliers — that hotel guests spend additional dollars locally — to project broader economic impacts. One presenter estimated direct and indirect economic impacts in the tens of millions over time and described a roughly 14-month payback of the public contribution in projected incremental tax revenues.

Public comments and local support: During the public hearing several local stakeholders spoke in favor, including a commercial appraiser who performed the building appraisal, representatives of the Marion business association, the McDowell County Tourism Development Authority, and the chair of McDowell Economic Development Association. Speakers said a hotel would support downtown vibrancy and enable larger meetings and events that currently cannot be hosted because of limited local lodging.

Board action and next steps: A commissioner moved that the county proceed with the partnership and the board approved the motion by voice vote after discussion; the motion included updating the agreement to reflect a developer performance deadline of Dec. 31, 2027 (staff had noted an earlier draft packet showed July 1, 2027 and requested the later date). County staff said the purchase/closing timeline in the packet and the performance schedule are part of the negotiated agreement; the board instructed staff to finalize the updated incentive agreement consistent with the changes discussed. Officials said the county and city would structure the public payments as performance-based disbursements and that, if the project fails, the property would revert to local governments.

The board indicated they intended to proceed promptly to preserve the contract window and work with Marion to finalize the incentive documents; commissioners asked staff to incorporate the corrected construction deadline when the board signs the final documents.

Votes at the meeting: The board approved the motion to proceed by voice vote. No roll-call tallies were recorded in the transcript; the board declared the motion approved and moved on to other business.

Provenance: Opening of the economic development public hearing and project introduction occurred when the board called item B (economic development public hearing) and during presentations by county economic development staff and Benchmade Ventures; public comment and the board’s motion and vote appear later in the transcript during the same agenda item.