Successful Meetings - February 2009 - (Page 48)

The Kansas City CVA is hoping its skyline will include a 1,000room headquarters hotel by 2013 the fact that occupancy levels are somewhat suppressed has presented “a bit of a conundrum” for the community, which is weighing the incremental effect of a new hotel in the city’s mix against the fact that hotels are not currently filled to capacity. “It would be great to have 100 percent endorsement, but that’s just not the way it works,” says Hughes, adding that the CVA’s role becomes one of showing the community how it will ben- is, no project in the downtown destination has been built without some city support, so the question becomes: How does something like this get financed? How do we make this a reality?” But the recession has an unexpected silver lining—although the Dallas project was initially expected to run around $500 million, the price of construction commodities has recently decreased, so the cost has come down without It would be great to have 100 percent endorsement, but that’s just not the way it works. —Rick Hughes, president of the Kansas City, MO, CVA efit from this kind of a project. And “the numbers speak for themselves,” he says. “From a financial standpoint, we believe it helps to insure some of the other investments downtown.” The current economic climate has “given a bit of a pause to all of us. On one side of the coin we may need this more than ever, but the other side is, is it worth it?” The answer is yes, says Hughes. “Certainly with the economy the way it 48 I SM I February 2009 I SuccessfulMeetings.com “ “ requiring budget cuts. “The challenge we have is capitalizing on the bond markets and making the best deal we can for the city,” says Jones. Because of the costs and contentious debates associated with headquarters hotel projects, it’s important to the community that the completed property be aesthetically pleasing, not a blight on the skyline. In Dallas, the boomerang-shaped hotel is designed to be “very Texas, but also very trendy,” says Jones. “We want it to be one of the most attractive convention center hotels in the country.” The same holds true in Kansas City, where Hughes says the design of the hotel is of the utmost importance. “We believe it has an opportunity to really balance the other iconic features downtown,” such as the $405 million, Moshe Safdie-designed Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, which is scheduled to open next year. The convention hotels have a direct impact on group business, as Dallas, for example, loses out on an estimated 80plus groups, with $3 billion in business, each year because the city does not have a headquarters hotel, according to Jones. “Either we couldn’t accommodate them space-wise or they have a policy that they won’t meet in cities without a convention hotel,” he says. With the hotel looking like a sure thing, planners are responding with bookings in the destination; Jones estimates that the first quarter of this year will bring 20 to 30 percent more business than last year. So, he says, “We’re cautiously optimistic in a down economy.” SM http://www.SuccessfulMeetings.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - February 2009

Successful Meetings - February 2009 Contents Editor's Letter News Update: Meetings Associations Band Together Education Planner Spotlight Technology Talk Food & Beverage Making Cents of It All Meanwhile, Back at Headquarters Seal of Approval Come Sail Away Making Tracks Places & Spaces Florida’s East Coast Aruba Maui 3 Days in Philadelphia

Successful Meetings - February 2009

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