Wyndham International has aborted a deal to invest in and manage a planned 506-room hotel here adjacent to the Broward County Convention Center. The move leaves uncertain county plans for a headquarters hotel to open concurrent with the projected November 2003 completion of the center's expansion. Wyndham ultimately could not agree to terms stipulated by the Broward County Commission, which owns the land upon which the hotel was to be built.  

The issues included a $4 per room-night surcharge that would go directly to the county and a requirement that Wyndham maintain its investment in the hotel for at least two years after the hotel opened, according to Darcie Brossart, Wyndham's director of brand communications.

Wyndham had committed to investing $25 million in the project as well as managing the hotel. Wyndham's partner was R. Donahue Peebles, an African-American developer who was to build what would become the county's first major hotel owned by a member of a minority group.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had backed Peebles' bid for the project, with some state and local NAACP leaders suggesting possible economic retaliation against the county should he not win county approval. Wyndham, which had announced the agreement last May, placed blame for the failed deal directly on the county.

"The negotiations with the County have been extremely frustrating," wrote Joseph Champ, Wyndham's chief investment officer, in a letter to Peebles terminating their development agreement. Said Brossart, "We are disappointed we won't be moving forward with the deal. But we look forward to having a presence in Ft. Lauderdale and having a relationship with Mr. Peebles."