Disneyland cancels new 700-room luxury hotel
Disney has pulled the plug on a proposed 700-room luxury hotel at Disneyland.
“We’ve taken the time to review the economics of our proposed Four Diamond hotel for Anaheim and have made the final decision to cancel the project,” according to a statement released by Disney.
The hotel became the center of a major dispute between Disneyland and the City of Anaheim over a $267 million tax break.
In 2016, the Anaheim City Council approved the tax break for the hotel that was supposed to be built near the north end of the resort at 1401 Disneyland Way. However, Disney later changed the hotel’s location to in the Downtown Disney shopping district.
Anaheim city officials said the new location doesn’t meet the criteria for the tax break.
Some Anaheim officials, including the mayor, were against the tax deal. The hotel project was supposed to create about 1,100 permanent jobs and generate $400 million in hotel room taxes over 20 years, plus millions more in sales and property taxes.
Disney later than offered an olive branch to the City of Anaheim in the form of having the city drop any hotel tax incentives that the theme park has been seeking. In addition, Disney also wanted to end another development-related pact that blocked any city tax on Disneyland tickets.
“While this is disappointing for many, the conditions and agreements that stimulated this investment in Anaheim no longer exist and we must therefore adjust our long-term investment strategy,” according to Disney’s latest statement.
