Members of the Hastings Economic Development and Redevelopment Authority will tour The Confluence in a workshop meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday, prior to their monthly meeting at 7 p.m.

Community Development Director John Hinzman told HEDRA Board members at their meeting last month that he would either arrange a tour or have project developers attend the next HEDRA meeting. Questions have been raised about the schedule of the project at several HEDRA meetings, as members have sought updates.

The Confluence development is located in the 100,000squarefoot former Hudson Manufacturing building on the riverfront downtown. According to the website of Mint Development, which is overseeing the project, ground was broken on The Confluence in August 2019. The initial scheduled opening was winter 2021. Project delays from the COVID pandemic led that to be pushed back to this year, partners in the project told the Hastings City Council last summer. It reportedly is set to open in 2023.

After meeting with developers last summer, the city council voted unanimously for an amended agreement with The Confluence, LLC with the new completion date of Oct. 31, 2022. At that time, it was agreed that, completed or not, the development will be taxed at a value of $5 million.

At that meeting last July Hinzman said, “The developers have agreed to a minimumtaxedasvalue, which is $5 million. These funds are used to retire our debt. This is a substantial deal.”

Developers Pat Regan and Mike Mattingly and project manager Rob Barse attended that meeting.

Mattingly told the council that financing had been secured to complete the project after COVIDrelated problems with financing.

“We’ve been working hard. We’ve stayed committed to the project. We found a way to persevere,” he said The Confluence will include a 68room hotel with 350seat event center, as well as 20 loftstyle apartments and 20,000squarefoot of restaurant and retail space. The hotel, meeting space and restaurant will be managed by IDM Hospitality. Their website lists a 2023 opening date for the hotel. IDM has boutique hotels in several cities in the Midwest, as well as other hotel partnerships. The company is based in Monona, WI.

The Hudson Manufacturing building was purchased by the city for $3 million in 2010 using Tax Incremental Financing, where a portion of the taxes generated retire project debt.

The issue of the project schedule came up in the spring at a HEDRA meeting when HEDRA had to pay a bill for $174,000 for encapsulation of wood beams. Much of the work was redoing encapsulation done in 2019, and the price tag was $74,000 higher than anticipated.

At that time, HEDRA and Councilmember Mark Vaughan called for updates on the project.

“We’ve been told I know at the city council and at HEDRA that there’s going to be more communication about this building, and we haven’t seen that yet,” he said in the spring.

In the summer, another developer asked for an extension on their project, and HEDRA entered that conversation as well.

Hinzman reports to HEDRA on projects in the works at each meeting. His report on The Confluence each month since April has been identical: “Progress continues with interior activities including interior framing, replacement of fire suppression system, and replacement of windows.”