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Convention-hotel effort gets a lift
Project proponents hopeful now that mayor backs idea
Marla Matzer Rose
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCHThere’s renewed hope this week for a new Downtown convention hotel that’s been discussed for several years.
The mayor has asked the Franklin County Convention Facilities Authority to join with Experience Columbus and the Columbus Downtown Development Corp. to seek a developer. The convention authority controls the land on which the hotel would be built.
Coleman said last week that he’d become aware of how inadequate Columbus’ conventionhotel situation was while working to attract the 2008 Republican National Convention to Columbus. The group passed over Cleveland and three other cities in favor of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
Without more full-servicehotel rooms, Astleford said, Columbus risks losing new national conventions as well as groups that currently meet in Columbus but that are on the verge of outgrowing local accommodations. These include the Longaberger Co.; the OFA, formerly the Ohio Florists’ Association; and the Game Manufacturers Association.
Comments
- itinerantfoodie: Not one mention of Huntington Park or their sparse advertising. (Seriously
- Liz Samuelson: Why can't they just pay someone to do it versus a contest? I really like t
- RichLauro: Awesome! Good for Justin and best wishes!!
- Liz Samuelson: @jpizzow – Thank you for the compliment, yes lots of potential and lots o
- Taz Devil: Oh, and it should be finished soon considering that they work late into the
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Convention-hotel effort gets a lift
By: Walker
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Longaberger and the Ohio Florists’ Assn. are that big of deals? Wowza. Would not have expected that.
At any rate, there is definitely enough space downtown for another major hotel; the only question is what happens to rates when there is *not* a major convention in town. The big political conventions only come around every four years, after all.
it seems like the Convention Center stays booked pretty much year round (I dare you to try to get a hotel room downtown this weekend!) and with more rooms comes more conventions and more guests. I don’t think they’d have too much to worry about. I recall reading awhile ago that the hotel occupancy rates downtown were actually pretty good, so I’m surprised it’s taken this long for an initiative to push development along. You’d figure that the market would run it’s course and if the demand was there, a bit name hotel company would want to jump into place before their competition does.
I can’t speak for OFA, but Longaberger is a big deal. I worked as a valet at the Hyatt on Capital Square one summer during college, and the week of the Longaberger thing was the busiest week of the entire summer. Little old ladies from all over the country, with baskets in tow. People go nuts for that stuff.
^ The first time I came to Columbus for my job, they put me up in a hotel on the same week as the Longaberger Bee. That hotel was full of the most giddy 40-70 year old women I’d ever seen.
of all the things we forgot to consider when planning a summer wedding in downtown Cbus, it was the arrival of the “basket bitches.” hotel staff quote, not mine. we we’re lucky to get a block of rooms at a downtown hotel, as they were all taken up.
i imagine they will be booked up this weekend as well with the Arnold in town…
How do hotels generally affect local property value? Good, bad, not at all?
They’ll obviously attract more people to the area which I would equate to more foot traffic, bars, restaurants, shops, convenient/grocery stores (please?) etc which is great.
Living in the neighborhood I’m a little curious about new possible neighbors…
Living in the neighborhood I’m a little curious about new possible neighbors…
I would assume that new hotels in the area won’t be of the variety frequented by shady and questionable visitors. But generally, hotels tend to be very benefical for downtown areas.
At the very least, they should be good for local commercial property. Whether that translates into an indirect (or direct) benefit for residential property, I’d hesitate to guess, but I don’t see how it could really be bad.
Unless we get a Motel 6, Super 8, and Econo Lodge right next to one another along one of those underdeveloped strips behind the convention center. I don’t think Coleman is talking about anything so skeezy, though. :wink: