Pension fund builds Alabama hotels

Sentell, whose office is a few blocks away, said it's amazing to see the change along Montgomery's riverfront.

"This will bring a lot of people to Montgomery who've just driven down I-65 to the beach," he said.

At the Florence-Lauderdale Tourism Bureau, executive director Debbie Wilson said the opening of the Marriott Shoals Hotel and Spa on the Tennessee River in 2005 made the northwest corner of Alabama a destination for regional conventions for the first time.

"We've never been able to host a meeting of that size," she said.

The success is proven by local lodging tax collections, which were up 52 percent for the first nine months of the year, she said.

The Retirement Systems' hotels and a new office tower added to the Battle House in Mobile represent more than $500 million in investments.

The Retirement Systems uses other investments in TV stations and newspapers across the country to get several million dollars in free advertising each year to promote its golf courses and hotels. It's a freebie other resort developers can't match.

But not all has gone according to Bronner's plan.

Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 closed the Grand Hotel Marriott Resort in Point Clear for a year and delayed renovation on the Battle House across the bay in Mobile.

Because of that, the hotels lost $5 million in fiscal 2006 due to the shutdown of the Grand Hotel and skyrocketing insurance rates that followed the hurricane. The pension fund is forecasting a $5.5 million profit this year.

Bronner said he never expected a quick return. "A convention hotel runs negative for two or three years until you get in the convention cycle," he said.

Praise, however, has been quick for Bronner.

"Dr. Bronner is the most significant developer in Alabama's tourism industry ever," Sentell said.

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