One of the loudest proponents for a new downtown hotel will be asked to help pay to build one.

City officials plan to ask Grand Wayne Center to contribute $2.5?million over 10?years to help subsidize the almost $50?million hotel that is a part of the larger Harrison Square project.

During the Fort Wayne Redevelopment Commission meeting Monday, city leaders said publicly for the first time they will ask the convention center to help finance the neighboring project.

Greg Leatherman, deputy director of development for the city, said the possibility of using Grand Wayne revenues for the hotel came from negotiations with Acquest Realty Advisors and White Lodging Services Corp., who plan to develop a 250-room Marriott-branded hotel on the southwest corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Harrison Street.

The hotel development is critical to the $130?million Harrison Square project, as tax revenue from the hotel will help finance other portions of the development. Besides the hotel, the Harrison Square project includes a parking garage, new condominiums, new retail and a $30?million city-owned baseball stadium.

In the initial non-binding contract with the hotel developers, the city agreed to work with Grand Wayne’s board of directors to allow the new hotel to recoup some of the room tax charged to hotel guests. Leatherman said the hotel developers will no longer get a direct rebate of the room tax, but the city hopes to use the $2.5?million as additional incentives for the hotel.

Grand Wayne gets the bulk of its revenue from the hotel room tax.

Leatherman previously said the city and hotel developers were working to close about a $6?million gap in finances for the project. He said this incentive will help fill that gap, and the developers are working to redesign aspects of the hotel to reduce costs. The hotel will still be a full-service, business-class hotel with an urban design, Leatherman said.

Specifically, Leatherman said Grand Wayne money would pay for public portions of the hotel project, such as a walkway to the publicly owned parking garage. Grand Wayne money would not be used for other portions of the project, such as the baseball stadium, he said.

Steve Brody, president of the Fort Wayne-Allen County Convention and Tourism Authority, which oversees the convention center, said he thinks the $2.5?million is a reasonable request.

“The second quality downtown hotel is definitely needed in order for the community to maximize its investment in the Grand Wayne Center,” he said. “Having more first-class hotel rooms would allow us to attract larger groups from out of town.”

Grand Wayne officials have argued the center can’t reach its potential without more hotel rooms. With more hotel rooms available, Leatherman said Grand Wayne should see more room tax revenues, as well as more money for renting space and selling food.

Brody has also been working as a consultant for the city on the Harrison Square project and said he will not participate in the vote when Grand Wayne’s board discusses the issue.

Ed Rousseau, Grand Wayne board member, said it would be nice to have another hotel downtown, but he has concerns with the increasing subsidies for the project. Rousseau, a previous critic of the ballpark portion of Harrison Square, said many questions would have to be answered before he would support using Grand Wayne’s money for the project.

The issue was supposed to go before the Grand Wayne board last week, but it was postponed to investigate how the financing would work, Brody said. He said the board should discuss the proposal in the coming months.

Leatherman said negotiations on final agreements with the hotel developers are still going well and they could be completed within the next few weeks.

With a grand opening just four months away, the $125 million Shops at Fallen Timbers in Maumee has added more retailers and an official Web site.

In a key development, Staybridge Suites, a division of InterContinental Hotels Group, has filed a site plan to build a four-story hotel on the 110-acre site near the intersection of U.S. 24 and U.S. 23/I-475.

Overall, 27 retailers have filed plans for stores in Fallen Timbers, which is being developed by General Growth Properties Inc., of Chicago.

Besides the hotel, the most recent to file plans are Bath & Body Works, Forever 21, Helzberg Diamonds, The Buckle, Regis Salons, Kay Jewelers, and Hot Topic.

Phil Kacja, owner of the local J. Foster Jewelers chain, said he signed a lease to be in the center but hasn’t filed a site plan.

A Minneapolis brewpub chain, Granite Bay Food & Brewery, has announced on its Web site that it will have a site in the Maumee center.

The Olive Garden restaurant chain is close to a deal to go into Fallen Timbers, sources in the industry said.

General Growth announced only a few of the 90 retailers planned. Spokesman Jim Graham said the developer is waiting for its retailers to make announcements.

“For us, they’re the customer, so to speak, so we have to take their lead on this,” he said.

The outdoor lifestyle center, which is a shopping center set in a downtown village scene, is filling up quickly, he said.

General Growth said the center will open Oct. 3. The firm has a Web site for the project, www.theshopsatfallentimbers.com, which has information about the stores, construction photos, and more.

It expects to announce more store sites and the center’s opening plans later. Sometimes, the developer has used hot air balloons and fireworks to stage its openings.

“We always try to make it a pretty exciting event,” Mr. Graham said. The 1-million square foot project began construction in September.

Staybridge was the last project anchor to be identified. Previously, Dillard’s, J.C. Penney, Showcase Cinemas 14, and Barnes & Noble had filed plans.

Originally conceived as an enclosed mall, the Fallen Timbers project went through nearly nine years of planning and changes. At times, it seemed like it would not proceed.

Changes included a shift to an open-air village with shops to two different names before General Growth settled on the Shops at Fallen Timbers.

“It’s taken a long time. Really, that’s all the more reason to celebrate,” Mr. Graham said.

Saints Capital (www.saintsvc.com), a leading secondary direct investment firm, today announced that it has bought a 40% stake from early investors in Travel Intelligence (TI) (www.travelintelligence.net), a London-based online travel provider. Saints also contributed additional follow-on capital for future growth and acquisitions. TI is the latest venture from online travel entrepreneur Marin Muyser and his business partner, Mike Lockwood.

TI offers the best professional hotel and destination reviews and articles contributed by 120 selected travel writers, and the ability to book selected boutique and luxury hotels at the moment of inspiration. TI’s subsidiary Starfish Luxury Travel Distribution (Starfish) also powers and enables better monetization of leading travel content sites including: HipHotels.com, Times Online, Travel Supermarket, HG2.com, mrandmrssmith.com, instylehotels.com, Silverjet.com, urbanpath.com and over 100 others.

“We believe that Travel Intelligence is uniquely positioned to provide a compelling travel solution to the five star traveller,” commented Muyser. “This investment will enable us to offer significant features and capabilities to our customers as well as to consolidate luxury/boutique travel products. We will continue to provide luxury/boutique travel suppliers with a viable alternative distribution network and deliver the most outstanding experience a luxury travel lover can have on the web.”

“We were impressed with the progress Marin and Mike have made with Travel Intelligence, their deep industry relationships with leading boutique hotels and the company’s position in a highly fragmented luxury travel industry,” commented Ken Sawyer, managing director of Saints. “We view this as a strategic investment in a promising company and intend to play a positive role supporting the company’s growth moving forward.”

Saints Capital focuses on secondary investments in and the management of portfolios of venture and private equity backed companies. Saints’ direct secondary activities assist sellers such as endowments, pension funds, founders, hedge funds, mutual funds, insurance companies, banks, and corporate sellers who are seeking to obtain immediate liquidity or to minimize future investment requirements in private equity.

“Of all the potential investors we spoke with, Saints Capital best understood the business potential of Travel Intelligence, and articulated their ability to approach the transaction with a vision that was cooperative and focused on the company’s long term stability,” added Lockwood.

Ariadne Capital, a London-based investment advisory firm, advised TI on the transaction.

In addition to Marin Muyser and Mike Lockwood, Ken Sawyer from Saints Capital, former CEO of Sidestep.com Brian Barth, and Niko VonHuetz of Add Partners will be joining the TI board.

The Director General of Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), Mr. Khalid A bin Sulayem, welcomed the CEO and President of Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Mr. Peter de Jong, who visited the emirate recently.

Present during the meeting held at One & Only Royal Mirage hotel were the DTCM Executive Director Operations and Marketing, Mr. Mohammed Khamis bin Hareb, and Mr. Udaya Indrarathna, DTCM Executive Director for Tourism Affairs -Strategy & Research.

The discussions focused around bilateral relationships between the DTCM and PATA. They also discussed PATA’s ability to provide useful detailed research of mainly Asian markets and how this can be shared with the DTCM.

The opening of a PATA Chapter in Dubai was on the agenda.

Earlier this year, the DTCM had joined the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) as a member.

Founded in 1951, the Bangkok-headquartered not-for-profit organization is the recognized authority on Pacific Asia travel and tourism and serves the government tourist offices, airlines, hotels and other travel-related companies in the region and beyond.

PATA provides leadership to the collective efforts of more than 45 national government members, 48 state and local tourism bodies, 66 airlines and cruise lines — all in all, nearly 2,000 travel industry companies. PATA membership includes 17,000 travel professionals in over 80 PATA Chapters located throughout the world.

PATA provides leadership to the collective efforts of nearly 100 government, state and city tourism bodies, more than 55 international airlines and cruise lines, and hundreds of travel industry companies. In addition, thousands of travel professionals belong to more than 30 PATA chapters worldwide.