By Rachel Lippmann, KWMU
St. Louis, MO – The hotel that was supposed to be St. Louis's premier convention facility has entered the foreclosure process.
In December, the owners of the Marriott Renaissance Grand defaulted on an interest payment on $98 million worth of bonds. On Tuesday, the bondholders filed a legal notice that will put the hotel up for sale at a February auction.
Dave Dickson is a spokesman for Kimberly Clark, which had a partial ownership stake in the hotel until January. Dickson says officials had decided it no longer made economic sense to retain that stake. "Room rates were not up to where they needed to be make the project a viable, ongoing project," he said.
A spokeswoman for UMB Financial, the bond trustee, says the bondholders are committed to keeping the hotel open. If a buyer can't be found in February, they will take control of the property. An ownership agreement with Marriott means the company will operate a hotel at the site until 2036, as long as the building remains open