Courtesy Wilmington and the Beaches CVB
Two hotels for Jekyll
Work should begin later this year on two new hotels deemed critical for the Jekyll Island Convention Center in Jekyll Island. The beachside facility opened in May with hopes that new hotels would soon follow, but the recession has made it more challenging to get the projects off the ground.
In late 2012, it was announced that local funding would help get the hotels built. Construction is expected to begin by late spring on a 200-room Westin hotel that will be adjacent to the center and have 5,000 square feet of meeting space; opening is expected in August 2014. Work should begin about the same time on a 135-room Hyatt Place, adjacent to the center. It will take about a year to build.
Proposals in Portland and Savannah
In Portland, discussion of a convention hotel at the Portland Convention Center continues. A hotel has been talked about since the center opened 20 years ago.
The latest proposal is for a 600-room Grand Hyatt Hotel. Two smaller hotels were being considered until a survey of meeting planners showed they would be more likely to choose Portland if it had a 600-room convention hotel.
In Savannah, city leaders are considering a proposal for a 500-room hotel near the Savannah International Trade and Convention Center on Hutchinson Island. The convention center is adjacent to the 403-room Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort and Spa.
More growth in small towns
Other small towns are seeing convention hotel development. Among them are the following:
• A 294-room Westin Hotel, to open in late January in Birmingham, Ala., across from the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex and adjacent to a new entertainment district. The new hotel and the 757-room Sheraton Hotel Birmingham serve the convention center.
• A 165-room hotel with 20,000 square feet of meeting space next to a retail development in Independence, Mo. Developers say work should begin this spring on the Stoney Creek Inn and Conference Center in the Falls at Crackerneck Creek, east of anchor Bass Pro Shops.
A 200-room hotel was planned for the development, but shortly after Bass Pro Shops opened in early 2008 the recession began. Although developers decreased the number of guest rooms, they doubled the hotel’s meeting space.
• A 186-room hotel with 20,000 square feet of meeting space on 90 acres owned by the city of McKinney, Texas. Construction is estimated to cost about $35 million and is expected to begin early this year.
