City subsidies for a boutique hotel?

From the Wall Street Journal:

City officials and community advocates are raising concerns over government-backed financing for a proposed boutique hotel in Williamsburg, questioning the economic benefit it would bring to the neighborhood.

Brooklyn developer Two Trees Management Co. is applying for $15 million in federal tax-exempt financing to build the hotel on an 11,105-square-foot parcel of land on Wythe Avenue in an industrial area of Williamsburg.

The New York City Capital Resource Corp., a local development corporation controlled by Mayor Michael Bloomberg, is holding a hearing on the project Thursday and will vote whether to approve the Williamsburg hotel for financing next Tuesday.

"I'm not sure subsidizing a boutique hotel in Williamsburg is the best use of resources right now," said Bettina Damiani, project director at Good Jobs New York, a nonprofit that scrutinizes the city's economic development projects.

Ms. Damiani said the hotel's proposed location is in an area that the city has designated for the preservation of manufacturing and industrial jobs. There are also concerns about the quality of jobs the hotel would produce, she said.

According to Two Trees Management's application, the Williamsburg project would create 75 construction jobs and 195 full-time equivalent permanent jobs. But an analysis conducted by the New York City Capital Resource concluded that the project would only produce 53 new construction jobs and 33 permanent jobs.

"They had a vastly overstated claim of job creation," said City Comptroller John Liu. "We need to end that practice."

Interesting analysis over at the NY Observer