The Dixie Walesbilt Hotel (Part 2) - #015

Robin Gibson joins us again to talk about restoring the Walesbilt Hotel in downtown Lake Wales, the process of picking the firm who is overseeing that, as well as the potential that this brings with the citizens and business owners in our great town.

Transcript

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Hello, Lake Wales. You are listening to episode number 15 of the Mayor and the Manager. The Mayor and the Manager is a podcast created by Providence Voice, which is the media ministry of High Point Church. And we created this podcast for you so that you could be aware of events that are happening in our city and also so that you could become better acquainted with the folks that you elect and pay to serve you here in Lake Wales. And this again is episode number 15. So we are joined once again by our city manager, Mr. James Slayton. James, good to see you. Good to see you, Mayor. And for a second time, we are being joined by Robin Gibson, who is our recently retired. I don't know if that's even the right word, but he stepped down from serving as our in our city commission. And uh he is going to spend this episode with us as well. And today we're going to be talking about what I think is the hottest, most exciting news in the city of Lake Wales, and that is the redevelopment, upcoming redevelopment and of the Dixie Wales-built hotel. So just uh anecdotally to get us started and rolling on that conversation, I have family. I'm from the Midwest. I've been in Lake Wales for 30 years, so I'm naturalized now. But the folks from the Midwest who have visited me, every time we talk about the city, almost the first thing they ask about is, what have y'all done about that big old building downtown? So that's been the talk of Lake Wales for decades. So something historic happened this last year and a half, two years. Which one of you want to jump on and kind of tell the story? Let's let Robin why not why don't you do it? You you've been wanting to talk about this for a long time. So I'll let you go in just a second. You guys, if you just to get a little backstory, if you're a listener to the mayor and the manager, go back. It's it's around episode number four or five. We talked a little bit about the whales built. You can go listen to that one. But Mr. Robin, I gotta keep calling you Mr. Gisson, Robin. Yeah, tell us tell us yours your whales built story and what what's been happening. My whales built story starts in the fourth grade. Oh, okay. Okay. My family, my folks, we drove up here and our Model A, my dad loved that car, and um and came to Bok Tower. It was a rite of passage to come to a place like that, a quality place like that. And we went downtown and rode the elevator up and down. And there was a guy there with a little uniform and he and you cranked the wheel to get the elevator to go up and down. So I've known the Wales built hotel since then. When we I hate to interrupt you, but you rode a Model A to Lake Wales? It was a Model A town 1929 Model A town car. Okay. What year was it that you came and did that? Do you remember? I was in the fourth grade. Okay. So, all right, all right. Yeah. And you rode the elevator up and down. Yeah. Big adventure for a fourth grader. Okay, go ahead. I'm sorry. All right. So um then we came to Lake Wales, uh, perfect place for us to raise a family. And uh we came to Lake Wales in uh May 15, 1966, and there was the hotel, of course. Now this phase, the hotel was in and out of operation, and then I got involved in downtown development. I chair I was the chair of the downtown development commission that the we talked the city uh then city into uh adopting so we would have a platform to do that, and we did the first improvements. Here's the main thing downtown development was everything that was one, two, or at the most three stories. That was all the people in downtown. The locals uh knew about and cared about. The hotel was just a given and it always been there. And what I've thought to myself all those years was the people in town never look up. They're just down here with where everybody is. Right. But contrast that with some people come to town who are not from Lake Wales. Yeah. That's dominant. Yeah, it's the first thing. And it characterizes the whole town. Yeah, yeah. So there's this wide discrepancy between the locals and the visitors. It's like the smell in your house. You don't notice it, but everyone else does it. Okay. Never thought about it. Uh so but it's always been a uh problem, you know. Uh and it uh bugged me and I wasn't sure anything could be done about it. But then along comes the CRA and the capacity that we might have. And by the way, whenever uh our the CRA becoming active, which has happened in the last seven, eight years, it um the hotel has become to the forefront and and there is something we could probably do about it. A previous city commission uh thought they had it with a developer that they chose. And let's skip over that because it just did not work. That was a long and frustrating saga. Yeah, yeah. That that did not work. Put it that that's the kindest thing you can say. Yeah, uh, but then the CRA and our uh city commission, our city manager took charge, ventured out, went to court two years of litigation, and we got titled to the hotel. Now we can do something about it. And uh now we can overcome the fact that it is dominates the skyline and typifies what visitors think about our town. And in fact, we can use that as a magnificent asset, which I think we'll talk about as we go along uh as to what it is going to bring to town reliably, and I look forward to uh talking about how we do that. Okay. Okay, James, what's your whales? Everybody in Lake Wales got a whales-built story. So kind of tell me your as as a from a city manager's perspective, what is the whales built uh how have you dealt with that? What's that meant to you? Well, I'll tell you uh, you know, I I uh I like to advance things toward a a conclusion one way or another. Right. It's really it's just it's just my nature. Uh I I uh get a lot of satisfaction and gratification out of solving problems and getting things accomplished. I just enjoy it. And so during my career, um prior to becoming CD manager, you know, everyone's looked at the wells built. Um, you know, I can't, you know, I'll just sound like a broken record. Um hearing the talks, watching, watching what happened over the years and the attempts and how it all occurred. I've long wanted to be involved with finally just getting it done. Yeah. And, you know, not not no more hand-wringing. Let's just advance this thing toward a conclusion uh and stop looking at it. So quite honestly, it's been a kind of a personal mission and and personal challenge even to myself to help get this thing, help, help get it done. Yeah. And that's where we are. It's uh I have a sister that owns a home up in the Midwest. And, you know, up there, um, if you own an older home, you a lot of them would have the uh wood burning stoves in the in the interior of the house. She wanted to remodel the place. You can't remodel around a word wood burning stove. You either have to repurpose it or get it out of there. And uh that kind of is the way the Wales build has been for downtown Lake Wales. You you've got to either do something about it or get it out of there. That's right. And it it has been. It's interesting again, having come while this is my home through and through now, it when I I moved here at a certain point, and in even in the late 1990s, it was already a kind of a it was an issue. And you've had to deal with all sorts of approaches of all the way from let's just knock it down and get it out of here to people who love it and are trying to do something but not able to address it effectively. Okay, but let me uh excuse the interruption. Yeah. Uh I looked into knocking it down and getting it out of here. It can't be done. Okay. Tells what? It it is it is uh for one thing, and now this has turned into an asset, it is uh steel and concrete. It would take a nuclear weapon to get it out. Well, I know where I'm going in the next hurricane. Absolutely. And then uh the and it's actually uh 11 stories because there is a big basement in there, okay, which our developers love because of all the uh work that can be done in that basement and save the rooms. Um you would have nothing but a hole in the ground when you do that. And then you'd have to fill it in and about the only thing you could do is make a park out of it. And it would cost approaching two million dollars. So it uh getting knocking it down and getting out of there is practically impossible. It can't be done. It there's no way uh we could uh sensibly pull that off. It's got to be renovated. Either that or just sit there and and continue. Or just sit there, yeah. Yeah. Right. Okay. Okay. So we're moving that direction. So we already talked about a little we we obtained ownership. It's been almost two years ago now. No, it was last it's been a year last minute. Wow, okay. So I remember when the discussion started, that was a big deal. We took ownership. So talk to walk us through what's happened. We did this, but I think it's good for us to go through it again. How did we get ownership? Where are we at now? I'll let both of you, you guys, work on that together, however, you want to answer that. So, how did we get ownership? Um, do you want to take that one? I mean, it's a it was really through a settlement, quite honestly. After yeah, okay, litigation. It's a legal issue. Uh the um and uh city manager, I uh had a little bit to do with it, but not much. Uh city manager determined that we would hire the Peterson Myers firm. It's it's a le would be a legal issue. And Kevin Ashley is in that firm. Kevin Ashley and I are former law partners. Uh and so here we are, and we work together on a lot of cases and thoroughly enjoyed doing it. And so here he's our lead counsel, and I am the chair of the CRA, and we work together, it was a reunion, we worked together on that litigation as if we were law partners. Yeah. And um so uh it was a very satisfying experience. Uh I'll quickly mention the we got a summary judgment as a matter of law that that uh we were entitled to the ownership of the of the hotel. Um and it was based on fraud. Yeah. Uh um now uh the uh just out and out fraud that uh the uh former city commission believed and uh the judge in the summary judgment that we obtained said there really wasn't any other conclusion, but this was fraud. Okay. Well the problem was they were gonna appeal that would set everything back over a a year. They um and so now with the strong position that we had the thing was to uh enter into a settlement and to get the um title to the hotel so we could do something with it. Um there had been little if no improvement in it, but there was he had conceded that there was some improvement in it, so there was some value there that the prior owner who uh had put into it. So entitled to that. And then there's the value of uh saving time and and and acquiring certainty and so and then uh the prior owner had sympathizers in the community. And uh so to put all that to rest, it took four hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Okay, and we got the title and uh City Commission I mean we worked together as a unit and uh just did the right thing. Yeah. Uh I was really happy to be a part of it. Okay. So anything you want to add to that? No, I don't think so. That's that's how we ended up so we got it where we are. I remember when Mr. Ashley came and and the uh announcement was made, big celebration, $450,000, small price to pay to in decades of frustration. And here we are, we have it. So where are we at now, Mr. City Manager? What's going on now with the Well, I'll just pick up after we, I mean, immediately after we got um settlement, we got the title back to the hotel. We issued a request for qualifications to to look for uh firms that were interested in redevelopment. Um, created a short list of firms that the CRA board approved. And we have been, we we've done several things that that have kind of been behind the scenes, but uh in short, we we've been working with and and really negotiating at complex contracts with the firm Restoration St. Louis. That that's where we are today. Um, you know what? So let me just stop you for a second. There how many firms are there in the country that do the kind of work that we were looking to get done? Well, I I don't know how many there are, but it really is it's it's specialized work. Yeah, so it did it's not like you can just go, you know, to I'm gonna say yellow pages, nobody knows what that is anymore. They're they're not just hanging around out there. You gotta go looking for them. You you absolutely do. Right. Um you you gotta go looking for them. And and again, we we found, you know, from what I consider, you know, likely one of the leading firms in the entire nation um interested in in restoring this hotel. Um, you know, and they're they're out in St. Louis, Missouri. Okay. To to give you an idea. Sure. I I think we had, I don't know, we we we had the other three, I think were Florida-based. Um, and and while they may have been able to uh you know get get the hotel opened, um you know, Restoration St. Louis are they're they're the ones that and they've been doing this for decades. Yes. I think they're they're approaching, they're they've probably um I think the over 800 million dollars in historic restoration projects they've been um they have under their belt. Um and so they really are the you know the best of the best. And you know, the the these historic restoration projects are so expensive as well. People don't realize the the cost. I know that Robin knows firsthand how how much more expensive it is to restore um historic building than to build a new one, quite honestly. So you you want to work with folks that know what they're doing and um they they know how to quite honestly put their capital stacks together and find find the money to get these done. They know how to leverage the different um you know incentives that are out there um to get these projects done. And I think that you know that's that's one of the things Restoration St. Louis has done very, very well. Don't let me forget. Go ahead. I'd like to refine that a little bit. Okay. Um there are a lot of people that do redevelopment and restoration. Uh and uh even though the majority is new construction, there's still a lot that do uh restoration. There are very few that tackle what they do. And they have a a saying about their company that I thought took the wrong way to begin with. But they are uh a last resort restoration. And and um I thought that meant a last resort as um the fact that uh nobody else would take it, nobody else could uh they take it because it the things that they've done are in the pits and nobody wants to touch it. Yeah, nobody'll touch it. And they're big hotels. And there's there's only about three or four that have been done, and they've done them. Yeah. And they've turned them in not only restore it and get people in there, a lot of them, you know, uh turn out to be um, I don't know, old folks' homes and things like that. Yeah. The they make them the gem, the centerpiece for the town or the community. Yeah. So that is really, really unique. I don't know anybody else that does it. I remember when they they and the other firms came and made their presentation, and it was really impressive. Yeah. It was a very visionary. And it and I think that's probably what excited all of us is that we're not just going to try and squeeze some more life out of a building, getting whatever mileage we can out of it. But it is, no, we're gonna bring this thing back to life and make it beautiful again. That's right. I think it's gonna be better than it was when it opened. Yeah, yeah, me too. So I want to come back to you used a phrase, I think it was capital stacks. So there's something we need to talk about it because again, and there are a lot of smart people in town, a lot of smart business people, a lot of smart real estate people. But this is really unique. And even if you have a background in construction or real estate or whatever, you may not understand the unique challenges of this historic preservation. So, what do you mean by capital stacks? What's that all about? Well, uh in in really in in simple terms, uh no one is gonna go into a you know uh estimated $43 million project and lose money. Uh-huh. The restoration St. Louis would not be in business if they if they lost money. And that and then I think you know the same goes for for every business. So you've got to get a return, you know, on your on your investment when you do a project of this nature. Well, the these for for these historic restoration projects, the the the pro forma is just don't they they just don't pencil out, quite honestly. And so there are large funding gaps um, you know, in getting these projects done. If if if restoration of St. Louis, for example, or any any other firm were to expend all 43 million dollars of their own money in a project like this, they they they would almost never get their money back. Or or they'd have to charge you know $2,000 a night for a room, right? Yeah. Right. In their business plan. So it's just not going to work. So they they've got to find other funding sources to um see these projects through fruition, quite honestly. And so uh Restoration What St. Louis has done that really well and and and particularly their their way to capitalize on the historic, the the federal historic tax credit program. Not everyone understands that it's very sophisticated and they they've got a long track record in doing that. And then there are other funding sources that you know that they'll utilize to to be able to um quite honestly finance this project. And and public funding by the way um is is a big piece of that you know because you know after they put all their funding streams and sources together there's still going to be a gap in getting a project like this done. We don't have historic um there there aren't incentives in the state of Florida to restoring um historic buildings quite honestly. And so what happens is a lot of them don't get done. Yeah. They're so expensive private the private sector can't really make money on them because they cost so much to to restore and we don't have any incentives at the state level to be able to you know fill those gaps. So it's almost it's really not realistic to think that these kind of projects will ever be completely done with private money because there's no profit in it that way. So it has to be something that you have a company like Restore St. Louis who has their heartbeat and their vision, but you also have to have a municipality that is committed to something very passionately or it's not going to happen. There's no question about that. It it it takes a a a public-private partnership to get a project like this across the finish line. Yeah. So that's what we're doing with Restore St. Louis so describe how how that's structured. I you know I we just had a meeting not long ago where we um where we um did some more purchasing but why don't we talk about how that public private partnership's kind of being structured with Restore St. Louis well part of the structure is is is what we're we're working on. I don't know that I'll get into the details but I'll I will talk a little bit about you know what the numbers look like and what a participation level likely is going to be um and so the the estimates right now um are about uh it's about a 43 million dollar project right and that that's cradle to grave. Okay so now that's just to restore the hotel. Yes sir and you get it open could you use another term besides grave soup to nuts 43 million. Probably so we'll say 40 to 45 million. Yes sir and and you know based on the market market conditions um you know that there's gonna be about um about a 17 and a half million dollar funding gap to get the project cross the finish line and so that's gonna be our contribution um if it's uh approved by the CRA board our contribution will be about 17 and a half million dollars to the 43 million dollar project okay um to get it completed. Okay so the city of Lake Wales is going to come up through the CRA is going to come up with 16 to 18 million dollars to make this thing happen. Okay and then we just recently made a deal to purchase more property around the building talk about that why did we make that decision? Yeah so the the the the primary push the the emphasis was creating parking adjacent near the hotel quite honestly um that that's just a must and it's a requirement you know um you know restoration of St. Louis would like access to you know up to a hundred parking spaces uh in and around the downtown now while we do have parking inventory available we didn't have anything immediately adjacent to the hotel so and that's important because this is going to be a nice place. It is going to be it is going to be a nice place. Okay. Yeah absolutely and so um that that was really emphasis. Now these will be public parking spaces available to anyone quite on the addresses another need we're it addresses another need uh in and around the downtown which has been the you know the available parking so we'll we'll be able to solve both those both those problems through this acquisition. Okay so we bought the um the old verse federal building it's it's the Peterson Myers building now and so the we've got a contract now on the old uh what commonly called the Peterson Myers building um right at first in central we also have in a under contract the parking lot adjacent to that and the CRA already owns the one on the other side so we we're essentially going to own you know all the property about three quarters of that entire block. Okay. And so we'll while while parking is um available there now it's mostly you know asphalt parking lots it's in really really poor condition. So what we'll be able to do is is redevelop essentially that entire block or three quarters of that block including West Steward Avenue. So while we're creating parking we're going to be doing like we do in and really beautifying that area. Making it making it look a lot better. Making it look a lot better. So um say $18 million to finish the renovation of the hotel and another four and a half million to buy them um that property and some more money into redevelopment. So we're talking pretty significant. We are we're we're gonna be somewhere around the 24 you know 24 25 million uh soup to nuts yeah uh okay by the time it's all over with so those can be intimidating numbers for people we just we just spent $18 million doing all of that beautiful work down on Park Avenue and and on the market plaza. Everybody loves that so um when we had the meeting about that a few citizens expressed concerns. I've heard others how does the city afford that where's the money coming for from for that so I want both of you Robin and you both to talk about why are you still very confident about moving forward with that you want you want to start I came here knowing that we'd be talking about the hotel and I I came here wanting to make two big points. Okay one and all to do with money the first one has to do with tax increment financing the CRA operates on property values and it to be successful what you have to do is reverse your own thinking about the way you operate your household you don't want to be in debt when you operate your household you wanna you want to pay your mortgage you want to get out of all that the tax increment financing actually encourages debt which is difficult for people to adjust to because the way it works is you borrow money to improve public property. You borrow at tax-free rates so you get a real advantage you improve the public property now you have a debt to pay off but the way the tax increment financing works is as the value of that property improves that entire value with both city money and county money this is before the home rule that the county got and we were early and we were in ahead of it. Everyone listened to the last episode and that that increase in value goes into the community redevelopment trust fund to be used for redevelopment and to pay back that bond or that debt. And I'll use a very successful immediate example and that is the improvements that we've all witnessed the values have increased so much that the debt is all paid the the revenue source is there to pay it all the way out you we don't have to worry about it. We go on to the next project so now here we are with this we're we're gonna borrow money but that's the way it works okay the second big huge point is you've got to create value so the important thing for us to think about to worry about is is this thing going to create value? It's got to be good it's got to increase value the lifeblood of a CRA is increase in value. If it doesn't increase in value it's a total failure and this is public money we can't take chances with it so we have to be uh as assured as we can possibly be that this hotel will increase value to pay off this 17 point five a little uh side note here is in the project other project that uh Restoration St. Louis is doing in Lake Worth yeah very similar to ours very similar to ours but the CRA they're in it for less than two million dollars we're talking about 17 point five yeah in a smaller project than their project so we're in it big and uh so we've got to be assured. Sure all right so then the city manager has the good judgment to retain this outfit called place economics uh that's online is it not the report I think it is we gotta put it online yeah if not we can make it accessible we can yeah yeah and and I until I read that until I saw what when what happens when you just put forty three million dollars and it'll be there the 43 million will be there for from four different sources one of which is us it'll be there. When you come with those wheel bearers and dump that money at the front door of the hotel good things have got to happen if it's handled properly good things have got to happen. Well how do you measure them? Place economic measures it down to the last dollar there are five things that that uh go into it they measure them and it is a virtual certainty that the value of this hotel will increase to the extent that this is more than paid back just as has happened is happening with the um Park Avenue and the uh the centerpiece there uh the plaza the plaza um I think we might be hesitant uh to do the hotel if it weren't for the success of that we've demonstrated that sure yeah and we've demonstrated it to the country and that's brought us in compet in competition 29 million dollar grant so that we can fulfill that and be an example to the rest of the country so we are on one heck of a roll yeah yeah we're doing it right and succeeding with it and this hotel is going to be just a magnificent achievement and an example for others as to uh how to do it and uh I can I've got the report here I can go into a lot of detail but it's way too much for this podcast and uh just the fact that it's virtually assured is is the main thing. Well the place economic study was very comforting for me because as um Robin has said we're dealing with public money. Lake Wales went through a pretty rough period a couple of decades ago where we were constantly in trouble financially. We've gotten to where that's not a problem. We're in a healthy situation strong situation and this is a big step. So you uh did place economics we saw it they go out a certain period of time but then you did your own work to take us out even further. So like Robin has said it's a very detailed report we can make it available for anyone that wants to do the reading but tell us James maybe two or three or four things uh financially that when you read through that report that really increased your confidence that this was the right thing for the city to do. Oh man well okay yeah I I'm gonna hit just a couple of the bullets okay okay so so one of which is um and by the way so when when place economics and their owner is uh Donathan Ripkuma and I I believe he is the best in the nation he's written books on the economic impacts of historic restoration projects um he he's the best at he's the best at what he does but he worked with um you know for example our tourism development council he here in Polk County to to get real data and real numbers to help drive you know this report um so so I'm gonna hit some highlights here um they're looking at and by the way he's he's pretty conservative this wasn't an overly optimistic report I believe and I honestly I truly believe we're gonna outperform what's in his report um but he's estimating about what we'll say close to 2000 annual visitors staying in our in in our downtown every single year yeah yeah um they're they're they're estimating about 12.1 million dollars a year in annual visitor expenditures um I think our downtown businesses and local businesses could all benefit from having that 12 million dollars around absolutely uh each year um we're looking at nearly 200 new jobs being created here in town um you know as a result of the hotel um and then we're looking at uh what we'll say over 10 million dollars in average uh labor income for for those new new jobs are gonna be created so all of that um you know and they they've got these ratios um that that say that you know uh you know local dollars spent you know have a 6x return in the local economy and so if you believe that I think everyone's gonna prosper uh as a result um and then more directly more directly to the CRA speaking to the financing of it all um by the time our e CRA expires we which is nearly 30 years um estimates um are that we are gonna generate for ourselves um an additional forty eight million dollars over time in tax increment revenue forty eight million dollars annually no no no that that's over the next close to you know 30 years so um you know we're estimating um you know about 1.5 1.6 million dollars in annually in additional tax increment revenue based on the property value increases all of those things that you listed off the top were even before we got to property value increase and tax increment increase that's exactly right those are local economic benefits and then we've got those direct benefits of the tax increment revenue that's gonna generate by the property value increases. Yeah okay okay so I I know that again and I understand I very much understand when you hear 43 when you hear the city's on the on the hook for another 25 million we just did 18 million every I can understand people being nervous but but there's good reason to move forward here. There is and let me just talk a little bit about the financial health uh of our CRA and put some real numbers to it so through you know the last you know five years um we've more than doubled through because a direct result of our redevelopment efforts we we've more than doubled the aggregate um tax increment revenue that we receive annually so you know prior to about 2021 you know we were generating just under aggregate um just under $2 million a year in in tax increment revenue and this this fiscal year um coming up I think we're gonna we're gonna finally cross the five million dollar threshold right annually very significant very significant so um we we've done a pretty good job managing the the CRA so we've got the tax increment revenue coming in to to cover the debt service the other thing is and we've already done this work um there were some concerns about us quite honestly running out of money right and so you know you you we when you borrow money um just just like at home right there's a debt to income ratio that you you've got to pass and so we we have a funding ratio it's the same exact thing here at the city where you know the the lending institutions have to look and say okay do you have a minimum funding ratio we've already done that work we do um and um so we're we're in really good position to take to take on this debt quite honestly um and it's it's gonna pay for itself in the end but then when you look at what we talked about in the last episode the um you know the CRA expansion now we've got you know even more potential revenue coming in so what while it is you know some risk it's a it's a very informed calculated risk that that we're taking yep okay guys I I will tell you it's amazing to me how fast the time goes when we talk about this stuff. I uh I don't want to end this episode without reading something from the place economics report go read it okay because let's focus on the hotel yeah now um and this is the way it ends the conclusions there certainly is no guarantee of success but one the high quality of the building itself two the apparent structural soundness three the knowledge and experience of the proposed developers and four the realistic if even conservative estimates these estimates are in terms of room rates and occupancies are conservative estimates of construction costs and operating statements at listed at least mean that the components of success are in place all right whether that happens is up to us our city commission our management how we handle it uh and the components of success are there they are there for us to take advantage of let's go absolutely okay so I'm gonna close this episode with one more question and that is it you know these are important discussions you you need to do your homework and I think we've done it. I think the groundwork is laid this is a good decision but it's about more than money A building like the Wales build. I I wrote this down. It's about the soul of a city. Really. It's about the soul of a city. So talk about that. Talk about what you think beyond dollars and cents, what will it mean for the city of Lake Wales to see that building open again and operate? Well, I know it's hard to change out. It is. Well, it it is going to change the trajectory of Lake Wales. It really, it really is in our downtown. Um, but it is symbolic. I think that hotel represents it represents this the current state of that hotel represents, I think, where Lake Wales in some ways has been as a community. And um, you know, when we get this thing restored, um, I think it's it's also gonna further reflect where where we are today, right? That this it's gonna reflect Lake Wales 2.0 and and and the uh pinnacle of our renaissance. And this is what I I consider, of course I would say this, but you know, uh the pinnacle of uh our our golden age, sure. Okay. What about you, Mr. Gibson? What Robin would say is that we look at that hotel as typifying downtown. Um and it's hard to quantify the people in this community. Who are we? What do we think of the place we live? How do we contribute to it? How do we make it better or more beautiful? Take a look at it. That's the physical proof the physical proof of who we are and what we think of the place we live in, and what we do about it, and what and in three years it's gonna be what we've done about it. Uh so that's that's what I think. The physical embodiment of who we are. You you really articulated what what I think I was trying to say. You did a much better job of it. Well, you know, he's an attorney. Well, you know, it's um you know the phrase Stand by for the lawyer, James. You know, the phrase that I heard often about is Lake Wales is the crown jewel of the ridge. And um, you know, as I as I've lived here and have learned about the history of this place and the vision of the people that founded it, a lot of folks that live here and love this little town uh for because it's their home and their family and they have history here, uh don't understand that there's so many more reasons to love it and be proud of it. The Olmstead plan, the the parts of America that have touched this place. And um, and that thing has set there, that building has set there for so long, and I think undermined um the excellence that really res it resides here. And boy, what an exciting day it's gonna be when we do the ribbon cutting on that building. And and Lake Wales finally lives up to all of the latent potential that is here. This is a great place. And uh, it's already worth celebrating, but boy, it really we're we really be polishing the ground jewel when we open that thing up. So I'm excited about it. Gentlemen, thank you for your time. 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