Plans to bring a hotel to Bridgeport – the state’s largest city – has received $850,000 in potential tax relief on building materials through Connecticut Innovations, the state’s quasi-public venture capital arm.
Bridgeport-based RCI Group and True North Hotel Group, based in Overland Park, Kansas, plan to start construction in late July or early August on a 141-room, six-story Residence Inn by Marriott at Steelpointe Harbor, on a 2.5-acre parcel at 108 E. Main St.
The tax break from CI comes from the state’s Sales & Use Tax Relief Program, which exempts companies from Connecticut’s 6.35% sales tax, up to a certain amount, for capital equipment and/or construction materials purchases.
CI’s loan committee approved the deal on Tuesday.
“Connecticut has been a great partner for the project,” Robert Christoph, RCI Group’s founder and president, told the Hartford Business Journal. “We’re very excited to work with the city and the state, and we’re very excited that the state has programs like Connecticut Innovations to spur new development.”
RCI Group last year brought in True North Hotel Group to develop the hotel at SteelPointe Harbor, a 2.8 million-square-foot mixed-use urban waterfront development that is being built in phases over a period of years, according to the company’s website.
When completed, Steelpointe Harbor will have about 800,000 square feet of retail space, 200,000 square feet of commercial/office space and 300,000 square feet of hotel/meeting space that will also contain 1,000 to 1,500 residential units.
It is currently home to retailers Bass Pro Shops, T-Mobile, Chipotle and Starbucks. It also has a 200-slip marina and other amenities.