Newport on the Levee will soon be home to Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Resort, bringing the development multiple new restaurants and a coveted hotel.
With a unanimous vote from the Newport City Commission at Monday night’s regularly scheduled meeting, an order was approved for City Manager Tom Fromme to execute an agreement with Newport Hotel Associates LLC, a group associated with Newport on the Levee owner North American Properties, regarding a Margaritaville resort project.
“This is one of the final pieces of the Newport on the Levee puzzle,” Fromme said at the meeting. “The hotel was long planned for Newport on the Levee from day one. There was one in the works back around 2008 and due to the economic downturn that went belly up for lack of a better term. This is really an exciting day for the Levee, the City of Newport and the entire Greater Cincinnati region.”
Jim Stormont, president of the Stormont Hospitality Group, which is partnering with North American Properties on the project, told the commission the resort will feature 264 rooms and three restaurants with the Margaritaville branding. The resort’s rooftop will have a ‘5 o’Clock Somewhere Bar’, complete with a pool and a 2,000 square-foot event facility. Stormont expects the project to bring 200 jobs to Newport.
“The Margaritaville brand fits so perfectly with Newport on the Levee; the destination, the aquarium, all the restaurants and activities,” Stormont said.
In 2018, North American Properties purchased Newport on the Levee from Price Group LLC. At the time, the city of Newport issued a 30-year Industrial Revenue Bond worth $200 million to North American Properties to help purchase the development and pay for improvements, according to attorney Dick Spoor. So far, $80 million has been spent on the purchase and improvements to the Levee.
The remaining $120 million of the previously issued bond will go toward financing the project. The commission also voted to kickstart the process of extending the bond by five years to help with the cost of development.
Additionally, Margaritaville plans to use a 3% surcharge on every retail transaction to help pay for the project and fund its marketing and sales efforts. This includes rooms, meals, drinks and souvenirs. In total, investment in the project will be approximately $140 million.
Margaritaville Resort is joining a lineup of various other businesses coming to the Levee, including 16 Lots Brewing Company, Amador, The Brickery Café and Play and The Galley on the Levee.
“I really think this is going to be a showpiece for the Levee, the city and for all of us,” Fromme said. “It’s also going to be a great attraction for Newport on the Levee as it goes forward.”
