Nashville Mayor Karl Dean is sounding confident that the new convention center will not go over budget, even if the city has to pay more for the land.
Metro may have to pay a key land owner $15 million more than expected after a jury ruled in an eminent domain case last month. There are still two other property cases tied up in court. But Mayor Dean dismisses claims that additional land costs would bust the project’s budget, which has some contingency funds built in.
“We’ll have to make decisions, and if we need to make any alterations, we’ll make alterations. We’ll just play it one day at a time. But in terms of a half-a-billion dollar project, this is not going to alter whether we come on in budget or not.”
The total cost of the convention center was a sticking point to getting approval of the financing. The developer whittled the total price tag down to $585 million – in part – to make it more palatable to members of the Metro Council. Still, the council approved a bond issue of $650 million to pay for it. The city finance director says the extra money is for a debt service reserve fund.
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