City Council - Regular Meeting

Hotels are a very important sector in the city of Roanoke's $15 billion portfolio. We're excited to introduce the Hotel Abatement Program, an economic development tool designed to address the shortage of more than 600 hotel rooms that have emerged since 2020 and encourage investment. We're here at 201 South Jefferson, the promissory hotel, the first hotel to take advantage of the hotel abatement program.

The hotel abatement program, like the city of Roanoke, is instrumental in getting projects like this accomplished. These projects are difficult. This is not New York, not Atlanta, and without programs like this and a city that cares, we could never make it work.

To participate in the program, here are a few eligibility requirements. Eligible projects include new hotel construction or the substantial rehabilitation of non-hotel buildings that are at least 30 years or older. Projects must add new hotel rooms but be valued at at least 120% of comparable hotels and cannot involve the demolition of historic buildings. The program offers temporary real estate tax abatement to encourage the development of new hotels and the adaptive reuse of older buildings. The tax abatement lasts five years citywide, with terms of up to 15 years available for projects located in an enterprise zone, conservation district, or rehabilitation district. This program is a win-win, supporting new investment, breathing new life into older properties, and expanding lodging options to better accommodate visitors, tourism, sporting events, conferences, and business travel in the city of Roanoke.

What the hotel abatement program provides us is long-term stability for our financial planning. So understanding what our financial obligations will be and what our tax obligation will be to the city over time is really, really very helpful.

The program is available until July 1, 2030 or until 500 new hotel rooms have been added. For more information on the Hotel Abatement Program, please contact the Office of Real Estate Evaluation at 540-853-2771 or contact Economic Development at 540-853-2715.