Jackson Mayor Derek Dobies joined us last week for his usual update.
On the docket: The Hayes Hotel and displaced rental tenants. First, we asked Mayor Dobies to clarify some recent comments regarding the long-awaited Hayes Hotel renovation project. “We’ve been in contact with a couple of different business entities that are looking to move into the downtown area. What we’re in conversation with about the Hayes Hotel is potentially locating those companies into the first couple floors of the Hayes Hotel.” Dobies says they plan to complete that in the next few years with the rest of the hotel completed in stages. “It’s a pretty aggressive plan when you talk about a development that’s going to cost in the ballpark of $30 million depending on how that unfolds.”
Second, a new ordinance is on the books in the city regarding landlords. In the event that a property has to be vacated, landlords are now on the hook to find new housing for their tenants for up to 90 days, as well as give them an opportunity to return to the property once it is fixed. “On a lot of conditions where we actually are vacating the unit, we have to vacate the unit right then; with wires hanging down, and the like,” Dobies said. “The landlords have ample time to fix that, even without occupancy, we usually give them 90 days, and there’s opportunities for extensions if they’re making progress. The ordinance requiring them (landlords) to find a new accommodations for those tenants up to 90 days, and then the tenant would have the right of first refusal going back into that fixed unit.”
