QLine, Huntington Place Bills Get Approval In Late-Night Final Session In Lansing (Detroit: hotels)

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Convention center

Legislation would let the authority that oversees Detroit's Huntington Place convention center enter into public-private arrangements, lift its spending cap, authorize new borrowing and expand the facility's definition to include nearby roads. The action comes as the convention hall is working to encourage the construction of hotels on the nearby former site of Joe Louis Arena.

The definition of a convention facility would be revised also include bike paths, plazas, green space and roads necessary or convenient for use in connection with the facility. A $279 million spending cap on expanding or renovating Huntington Place would be lifted. The Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority could issue new bonds not to exceed $299 million.

Convention authorities, which can use excess distributions from the Convention Facility Development Fund to pay down debt, could also spend the money on capital expenditures, including payments under a public-private arrangement.

QLine

The convention bills also would extend a $5 million annual subsidy for Detroit's QLine streetcar for an additional 17 years. The state's Convention Facility Development Fund, which is funded by hotel and liquor taxes and takes in roughly $100 million yearly, is primarily distributed to counties and the Detroit Regional Convention Facility Authority.

Since the 2019-20 fiscal year, the QLine has gotten $5 million a year — a subsidy that ended in the last budget year under current law. The legislation would continue the allotment through the 2038-39 fiscal year. The QLine opened in 2017....