GREAT WOLF LODGE in Garden Grove.

By Jim Tortolano/Orange County Tribune

An arrangement in which Garden Grove will rebate for 10 years 40 percent of the “bed tax” generated by the Great Wolf Lodge waterpark hotel on Harbor Boulevard was approved on a 7-0 vote on Tuesday night.

“It’s a win-win situation,” said Vice Mayor Cindy Tran. “We’re very invested in the Great Wolf,” said Councilmember Joe DoVinh (District 4) “and we want them to be invested in Garden Grove.”

In exchange for the subsidy – worth about $27.7 million – Great Wolf will invest an estimated $40 million in renovations and modernizations for the 603-room hotel, which is the city’s biggest tourist attraction

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The reasoning behind the deal is that Great Wolf needs to “protect its brand” by bringing it up to current standards that are at other locations in the chain. If not renovated, according to a city report, the resort could lose the Great Wolf brand and thereby be a less attractive independent hotel with a separate water park.

The deal would also prevent the establishment of another Great Wolf Lodge within a 200-mile radius, which would include cities such as San Diego or Bakersfield. Such an agreement is intended to keep the bed tax cash flow to the city intact and robust.