Primary Department: Economic Equity and Opportunity
Primary Department Head/Elected Official: Jie Wu, Interim Executive Director
Secondary Department: N/A
Secondary Department Head/Elected Official: N/A
Regular or Supplemental RCA: Regular RCA
Type of Request: Transfer of Funds Only
Project ID (if applicable): N/A
Vendor/Entity Legal Name (if applicable): Great Wolf Lodge
MWBE Contracted Goal (if applicable): N/A
MWBE Current Participation (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% MWBE Participation Goal: N/A - Goal not applicable to request
Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A
Justification for 0% Grant Indirect Costs Rate (if applicable): N/A - Not a grant item
Request Summary (Agenda Caption):
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Request for approval of payment of fourth quarter Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) rebate for Tax Year 2024 (TY24 Q4), calculated by Economic Equity and Opportunity, for GWR Webster LLC (GWR, also known colloquially as Great Wolf Lodge) based on the amended agreement between Harris County and GWR.
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Background and Discussion:
With assistance from the City of Webster (City) and Webster Economic Development Corporation (WEDC), GWR selected a 30-acre site in Harris County Precinct 2 for an indoor water park resort with a capital investment of $200 million. In order to compete with other potential sites, the City, WEDC, and GWR requested Harris County (County) rebate 2% HOT to GWR, which equals 100% of the total amount of HOT generated by GWR and collected by the County under the Texas Tax Code Chapter 352 for a period of 10 years. The agreement between Harris County and GWR, was approved by Commissioners Court on May 19, 2020. GWR opened on August 7, 2024.
A minimum appraised value of $75 million was set by the agreement and reached in 2025 with an appraised value of $149.2 million. After approval from Commissioners Court on April 16th, 2026, GWR was then paid the HOT rebate of $685,466.88 for TY25 as determined by the agreement. The funding came...
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