CHANDLER — Efforts to build a small motel here have stalled as lenders hesitate to offer 100 percent fi- nancing on the project, city administrator Jim Moffeit said.

“The last time I talked to (Raj Patel) and one of the bankers, they were trying to put together a package both parties could live with. Raj wants 100 percent financing, but the banks want him to put some money into the deal.”

Members of the Chandler Area Economic Development Corporation began negotiating with Patel more than two months ago. He owns and operates several branded motels in Texas, including in Gilmer, Longview, Pittsburg, and Lindale.

In Chandler, he would open a 31-room Executive Inn that would create eight to 10 jobs.

Patel has so far refused to comment on the project.

With a city motel tax of 7 percent, about $25,000 in revenue would be generated from the Executive Inn. Patel has asked officials for an ad valorem tax abatement for the first five years of operations. On the sixth through ninth years, the tax would be applied at 20 percent, with a full reinstatement in the 10th year.

He also requested waivers on tap, meter, building permit, and inspection fees, and asked the EDC for a $50,000 cash incentive. While officials find the waiver “reasonable,” the EDC is unlikely to grant a cash incentive at that amount.

Moffeit and City Council members Ann Hall and Gene Giger were appointed by the EDC to negotiate a deal “to find middle ground” on incentives. Patel has worked with at least two Chandler lenders on financing — Citizens National Bank and Southside Bank.

The Chandler Brownsboro Area Chamber of Commerce has also talked to other officials to bring a motel here, Moffeit said, but that process has yielded little results.