The Riverside City Council voted unanimously to approve thefinancing of MetroRiverside's Hyatt Place, which will be in theheart of Downtown, across from the Riverside Convention Center.MetroRiverside is scheduled to break ground this summer on thehotel, which is phase one of its two-block mixed-use project knownas Fox Plaza. The hotel's opening is anticipated for first quarter2012. The Hyatt Place will anchor the residential and retailcomponents of Fox Plaza, scheduled to be under construction by2015.

The Recovery Zone Facility Bond program is a new type oftax-exempt bond created by the American Recovery and ReinvestmentAct passed by Congress in February, 2009. It is intended to spurprivate development in economically challenged areas.

The principals of MetroRiverside, LLC, Siavash Barmand and MarkNicholson, pursued this unusual source of funding due to the lackof conventional financing options. "New construction financing isall but impossible these days," Barmand points out.