Contractor still seeks financing for new Dayton airport hotel

DAYTON — A contractor planning to build a Holiday Inn & Suites hotel at Dayton International Airport said Monday, Aug. 16, he is trying alternate sources to obtain financing for the project in a tight money market.

Dale White Sr., president and chief executive officer of Cincinnati contractor D.A.G. Construction Co., said he has sent proposals to community banks and hedge funds after being turned down by larger banks for financing. White said he hopes to hear back from those organizations by the end of September whether they will provide financing.

He said he has also asked the city of Dayton, which owns the airport, whether federal economic stimulus funds would be available for the project.

The hotel would operate on airport property. It would replace the 40-year-old Dayton Airport Hotel, which the city closed in January and plans to demolish to make room for an economy-rate parking lot.

The new hotel is planned as a six-story building, subject to approval by InterContinental Hotels Group, owner of the Holiday Inn brand, and the Federal Aviation Administration, which is to determine whether a building of that height would interfere with flight patterns.

The agreement with the city requires that construction begin in November 2010, said Walter Krygowski, Dayton’s interim director of aviation.

The new hotel has been described as a $15 million, 140-room project.

The airport administration had announced last year that the hotel would be ready to operate by the end of 2010. The revised schedule calls for the hotel to be completed by fall 2011.

D.A.G. Construction is to build the hotel for White Hills Hospitality LLC, a Cincinnati-based hotel operator. White Hills is to pay the Dayton airport $48,800 annually to lease the land that the hotel will occupy.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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