Hard Rock fell down. Kailas got up again

 You'll never keep this city's permanent wealth class down. 

The lead developer of the Hard Rock Hotel, which collapsed while under construction in 2019, has begun construction on a major new project in a former downtown office building two blocks from the site of the fatal disaster.

Mohan Kailas and his partners in the new venture are planning to turn the 31-story skyscraper at 1010 Common Street into a mixed-use complex with two hotels, including a 250-room Fairmont Hotel with a rooftop pool.

The project, which will cost more than $90 million, will also include an extended stay Element Hotel and six floors of office space.

It's so obscene you almost have to admire it. 

It’s the first big project for Kailas, a seasoned developer with several successful real estate projects under his belt, since the Hard Rock fell. The collapse killed three construction workers and injured dozens of others. Kailas was never accused of criminal wrongdoing in connection with the disaster. In legal filings and prepared statements, Kailas and his partners have blamed the project’s engineer and steel provider for the structural failure, which remains the subject of more than 100 unresolved lawsuits.

Oh well, no one to blame. Nothing has to change. And now we're right back to building nice things for rich people in a city facing an ever-worsening housing crisis. Yes, there will be a public subsidy. Why even bother asking anymore, really. 

Kailas and his partners in the project, which include Atlanta-based investment group Monarch Private Capital, will use federal historic building tax credits to help finance the building’s conversion. The tax credit program enables developers to recoup 20% of what they spend rehabilitating a building.