The Garden Grove City Council unanimously approved a $42 million bond payment to the developer of the Great Wolf Lodge Water Park Hotel at a meeting Tuesday night.
The taxpayer subsidy, part of a 2010 agreement between the city and Colorado-based McWhinney, is just one of the economic incentives given to the developer to construct the water park. The city also transferred the property, a trailer park that was purchased by the city’s former redevelopment agency, to the real estate developer without charge.
The resort is expected to have a soft opening in February 2016 followed by a grand opening in March, according to a city staff report.
City officials are hoping the resort will generate $8.5 million a year in hotel taxes, a figure which is based on a 66 percent occupancy rate.
The bond payment still needs to be approved by the state Department of Finance and no money will be disbursed until the resort receives a certificate of occupancy.
Contact Thy Vo at tvo@voiceofoc.org or follow her on Twitter @thyanhvo.
