The Charlotte City Council yesterday "voted 10-1 to approve an agreement with Bank of America, Wells Fargo and NASCAR to forgive" more than $22M in debt from the city-owned NASCAR HOF, according to Steve Harrison of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. The city "will pay the two banks" $5M, while the banks will in exchange "write off" $14.1M in principal and $3.5M in accrued interest. In addition, NASCAR "will waive" $3.2M in royalties "that it’s owed since the hall opened" in '10. NASCAR in the future "agreed to reduce the amount of royalties it’s owed" from as much as 10% on HOF sales to 3%. A $19.1M loan in question from Bank of America and Wells Fargo "was backed by the sale of commemorative bricks and corporate sponsorships." However, because brick sales and sponsorships "fell short of projections, the city hasn’t made a payment on the loan for three years" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 1/13). In Charlotte, Erik Spanberg noted even with the loans written off, the city "estimates the hall of fame will lose $200,000 to $500,000 per year." The city yesterday said that the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, "through budget cuts and new marketing campaigns, will erase the deficits" by June '16. The city also said that a 2% tax on hotel rooms is "being used to pay back the bulk of the construction cost and is in no danger of falling short of its benchmarks" (BIZJOURNALS.com, 1/12).
