gc
26 July 2004, 11:40 AM
Convention center hotel on Arlington's wish list
Study to determine if demand exists for more rooms
David Giddens - Staff Writer
http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2004/07/26/story8.html
Whether or not it decides to expand the Arlington Convention Center, the city could compete on a higher level for convention business if it adds a second, adjacent full-service hotel, said Linda DiMario, president of the Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau. Currently, only the 310-room Wyndham Arlington DFW Airport South is adjacent to the convention center, and it doesn't provide enough rooms for typical Arlington conventions, which range from a few hundred to as many as 4,000 attendees.
The CVB has asked the Arlington City Council to approve two studies, to be conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, to determine what the convention center needs to stay competitive and if enough demand exists to justify a new, full-service hotel nearby. The studies, which together will cost about $120,000, are expected to take 16 to 20 weeks to complete, once funding is approved. The studies, however, are not part of the city budget, and the item has yet to be placed on a council agenda for consideration.
While the convention center can comfortably handle 2,500 to 3,000 attendees in a theater-style setting, finding hotel space to accommodate demand frequently leaves the CVB scrambling for rooms in up to 10 hotels scattered throughout Arlington, DiMario said. "We believe we currently have a disproportionate amount of convention center space relative to hotel inventory immediately adjacent to the convention center," DiMario said. "If you look at the Hyatt and the Adam's Mark in downtown Dallas, they have a lot of rooms and meeting space close together, and that is important to meeting planners." The city's inability to place even a mid-sized convention under one roof has already cost it some business, she said.
"There are a great number of Texas state associations that would most assuredly put Arlington in their convention rotation if we had those rooms," DiMario said. "We recently worked with (the Texas Cattle Feeders Association's) meeting planner, who was very inclined to come to Arlington, but when push came to shove, they chose a hotel with meeting space and rooms under one roof." The cattle feeders eventually settled on the 1,511-room Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine. Currently, the convention center has nearly 50,000 square feet of exhibit space, plus an additional 44,000 square feet of grand hall, pre-function and meeting rooms.
One North Texas hotel insider said several hotel developers have already expressed an interest in an Arlington Convention Center site. But they have indicated they would like to see the center itself doubled in size and would probably build a hotel no larger than 250 rooms without that expansion. Yet to be determined are who would own and operate the hotel and whether any public financial incentives would be included. DiMario said those questions will be taken up following the study's findings. Craig Richard, president of economic development for the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, would only verify that hotel developers have expressed an interest in the city's entertainment district.
"We've had an assortment of hotels discussed and proposed, but the key thing we wanted to make sure of is that this is a market-driven development, and that's the information those studies will provide," he said. Frank Solano, the Wyndham Arlington's general manager and vice chairman of the Arlington CVB board of directors, said he would welcome a second convention center hotel. "I have championed a second hotel whenever I put on my board hat," he said.
Study to determine if demand exists for more rooms
David Giddens - Staff Writer
http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2004/07/26/story8.html
Whether or not it decides to expand the Arlington Convention Center, the city could compete on a higher level for convention business if it adds a second, adjacent full-service hotel, said Linda DiMario, president of the Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau. Currently, only the 310-room Wyndham Arlington DFW Airport South is adjacent to the convention center, and it doesn't provide enough rooms for typical Arlington conventions, which range from a few hundred to as many as 4,000 attendees.
The CVB has asked the Arlington City Council to approve two studies, to be conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, to determine what the convention center needs to stay competitive and if enough demand exists to justify a new, full-service hotel nearby. The studies, which together will cost about $120,000, are expected to take 16 to 20 weeks to complete, once funding is approved. The studies, however, are not part of the city budget, and the item has yet to be placed on a council agenda for consideration.
While the convention center can comfortably handle 2,500 to 3,000 attendees in a theater-style setting, finding hotel space to accommodate demand frequently leaves the CVB scrambling for rooms in up to 10 hotels scattered throughout Arlington, DiMario said. "We believe we currently have a disproportionate amount of convention center space relative to hotel inventory immediately adjacent to the convention center," DiMario said. "If you look at the Hyatt and the Adam's Mark in downtown Dallas, they have a lot of rooms and meeting space close together, and that is important to meeting planners." The city's inability to place even a mid-sized convention under one roof has already cost it some business, she said.
"There are a great number of Texas state associations that would most assuredly put Arlington in their convention rotation if we had those rooms," DiMario said. "We recently worked with (the Texas Cattle Feeders Association's) meeting planner, who was very inclined to come to Arlington, but when push came to shove, they chose a hotel with meeting space and rooms under one roof." The cattle feeders eventually settled on the 1,511-room Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center in Grapevine. Currently, the convention center has nearly 50,000 square feet of exhibit space, plus an additional 44,000 square feet of grand hall, pre-function and meeting rooms.
One North Texas hotel insider said several hotel developers have already expressed an interest in an Arlington Convention Center site. But they have indicated they would like to see the center itself doubled in size and would probably build a hotel no larger than 250 rooms without that expansion. Yet to be determined are who would own and operate the hotel and whether any public financial incentives would be included. DiMario said those questions will be taken up following the study's findings. Craig Richard, president of economic development for the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, would only verify that hotel developers have expressed an interest in the city's entertainment district.
"We've had an assortment of hotels discussed and proposed, but the key thing we wanted to make sure of is that this is a market-driven development, and that's the information those studies will provide," he said. Frank Solano, the Wyndham Arlington's general manager and vice chairman of the Arlington CVB board of directors, said he would welcome a second convention center hotel. "I have championed a second hotel whenever I put on my board hat," he said.