UPDATE: Salisbury Lot Ten Project makes a big step forward

Salisbury, Md. – Monday night marked a significant step in the Lot 10 project in Salisbury.

Salisbury Mayor Randy Taylor said the project was initially set to include a hotel, restaurant and lodge—plans that have not changed. The new goal is to acquire a piece of the land back for parking, which Taylor said would be a win-win for everyone.

“Well, we had a good conversation with the council, a better conversation with the developer. We hope we’ve got a framework to move forward. The project has experienced a few delays, as the public knows, but we’re hoping to move in the right direction. We are hopefully able to maybe acquire a portion of that lot back for the purposes of parking on that end of downtown, which is desperately needed,” he said.

City Council President D’Shawn Doughty said city leaders have been working hard to solidify an agreement with the developer and that the project will support the city’s growth.

“In our downtown space, we have one hotel that’s been here for quite some time. We appreciate them, but there’s not much beyond that. And we really could use additional capacity for lodging, but also for restaurant space. It brings in more jobs, more revenue for the city’s tax base—all around, a good thing. Other cities across the state have seen the difference in that,” Doughty said.

Doughty also emphasized that even as plans evolve, the city will prioritize the original project’s purpose.

“We’ll make sure that the funds go as close to that project as possible, because, again, that’s what the state entrusted us to do and gave the funds for. We’ll make sure we stick to that, and if we do vary from that, we will have state input and state buy-in as well,” he said.

Officials said the project is moving forward, but no work has been done yet to manage or disperse funds.