A new dawn for the Americus Center hotel?

Feb. 25--The long-vacant Americus Center will get another chance to find its place in downtown Allentown's rebirth, but only if its owner agrees to recapture the days when its marble floors and crystal chandeliers made it one of the region's swankiest hotels.

An Allentown arena authority committee Tuesday endorsed a $13.2 million plan to rehabilitate the 13-story hotel, but owner Albert Abdouche is going to have to meet conditions if he wants to tap Neighborhood Improvement Zone tax money.

He'll have to hire a professional to manage the hotel, get bank financing within 120 days and agree to restore it well enough to attain at least a three diamond rating with AAA.

The committee also reserved the right to get its own estimate of what renovations should cost, and hold Abdouche accountable if its estimate comes in higher.

"It's one thing to put up a new building, but it's quite another to restore a historic building to what it once was," Alan Jennings, chairman of the Project Review Committee of the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone Development Authority, said before the meeting. "We want this to be a proud symbol of Allentown's rebirth."

The committee's comments, while giving Abdouche an opportunity to shine, also served notice that he is on a short leash -- and Abdouche appears to accept that.

"I understand. I'm no professional at managing hotels, nor would I want to do this myself," Abdouche said. "I want a top-notch hotel, too. We all want the same thing for the downtown. We all want it to come back."

The Americus has a long way to go to reach its former grandeur.

Opened in 1927 with an architecture that evoked Old World Spain, the building named for explorer Amerigo Vespucci was once one of the city's most prominent hotels. Featuring colorful murals, ornate ballrooms, polished French marble and penthouse balconies, the Americus was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

The remnants of that luxurious Spanish Moor style are still there, but the building has fallen into such disrepair that hotel rooms haven't been rented since 2003. When Abdouche bought it for $676,000 in 2009, he hoped to renovate it and reopen it as a hotel. He said he's spent more than $2 million to stabilize the outside, replace the wiring and install a sprinkler system, but it remains a dilapidated shell.

Getting it ready to open will take another $13.2 million, he said Tuesday. The plan calls for 85 hotel rooms on floors two through five, 48 apartments on floors six to eight, 10,000 square feet of office space on floors nine and 10, and an upscale restaurant on the 11th floor.

The renovated hotel also would include two banquet halls, a sports bar and six first-floor shops that would front Hamilton and Sixth streets.

Abdouche said he's signed a coffee shop and a barber shop, and is negotiating with two other businesses that could open even before hotel construction begins.

Once it's done, the project will bring more than 80 new office workers and 300 full-time service jobs in the hotel and its first-floor shops.

"These will primarily be folks who live close to the Americus and will be able to get a good job in their own neighborhood," said Michael Stoudt, a consultant who helped Abdouche prepare his plan.

In the 127-acre arena tax zone, all newly created state and local tax revenues, excluding property taxes, can be tapped by property owners to pay for renovation or new buildings that create jobs and commerce.

Getting conditional approval for the Americus project allows Abdouche to seek bank financing for the project. Abdouche said if he gets financing, the hotel could be under major construction this summer and reopen by next year.

But committee members, skeptical that such a large building can be renovated for $13.2 million, made it clear they'll be watching Abdouche closely.

"I wish Albert the best of luck that he can pull this off," ANIZDA board Chairman Sy Traub said. "But we have to be able to establish what this should cost. We do not want a project that is going to fail."

The committee suggested an independent estimate, and also that Abdouche be required to buy a performance bond -- in essence an insurance policy that would cover the full cost if the independent estimate comes in millions of dollars above Abdouche's construction budget.

The committee's recommendation likely won't get approval by the full ANIZDA board until Abdouche gets bank approval.

"A few years ago, this building was a monument to urban decline in Allentown," Jennings said. " ... Now, if we do this right, we'll be getting a classy hotel restored to its original grandeur, and hundreds of new jobs downtown."

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BUT ONLY IF OWNER ...

-- Gets bank financing within 120 days

-- Agrees to secure a three-diamond rating from AAA

-- Hires a professional management company to run it

THE NEW AMERICUS CENTER HOTEL ...

-- 85 hotel rooms with a rate averaging $112 a night

-- 48 apartment and suites averaging $900 a month

-- Restaurants, ballrooms and first-floor shops.

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