ANAHEIM (CNS) - Disney officials today informed Anaheim that they have canceled plans for a 700-room luxury hotel at Disneyland Resort after City Council members voted to take back tax incentives for the project.
Anaheim City Council members voted Aug. 28 to cancel the tax-incentive deals because the project had changed over time, including a new location. Council members were also concerned that the new location would shutter businesses, costing jobs.
The deals were originally meant to spur Disney to build the luxury hotel at the resort and spend millions to expand the company's two theme parks. Construction was scheduled to start this summer, but it was put on hold over details on the development. The hotel was expected to open in 2021 and be the company's fourth at the Disneyland Resort.
At Tuesday night's council meeting, the city attorney announced that Anaheim had determined that Measure L, which seeks to raise the minimum wage in the city to $15 per hour for workers at projects subsidized by tax breaks, did not apply to Disneyland because it no longer had the incentive agreements with the city.
Measure L was drafted to target Disneyland Resort, but the company has since come to an agreement to raise wages for most of its employees.
Disneyland Resort has two tax agreements with Anaheim. One prohibits the city from adopting an entertainment tax on the price of admission in exchange for the resort investing at least $1 billion by 2024. The other would give the resort a rebate of $267 million on the city's hotel tax if Disney builds a luxury hotel.