OFFICIAL - Loews Convention Hotel (formerly Hyatt)

[bchociej]

If you think this is all about feeling happy while walking by buildings this discussion isn't worth having.

Successful cities don't build buildings like these. That isn't a coincidence.

Hear, hear.

[flyingember]

If you think this is all about feeling happy while walking by buildings this discussion isn't worth having.

Successful cities don't build buildings like these. That isn't a coincidence.

Sure they do. Los Angeles is a highly successful city.

Let's look at the tallest building in the city, taking up a whole block as a fair comparison. It's an office + hotel tower. It's the 14th tallest building in the country and tallest west of the Mississippi. This is a major project that should be an example of urban design.

7th St has an entry corner with nice plantings with the hotel sign. From that point there's a giant blank glass and brick wall for the entire block with only a garage entrance

Francisco St is blank doors and multiple garage entrances

Wilshire is blank glass walls with one hotel entrance and emergency stairwell exits

The Figueroa side has a visible sidewalk cafe and an offices entry in a large plaza

It looks like the garage takes up 2/3 of the block.


So for one of the country's largest urban projects it's arguable designed *worse* than the Lowes hotel as urban design.

[grovester]

I wouldn't call LA a successful city in regards to pedestrians.

[earthling]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80WyBxo0Hto

[flyingember]

I wouldn't call LA a successful city in regards to pedestrians.

Exactly my point. But it's hugely successful as the city regardless.

[shinatoo]

I wouldn't call LA a successful city in regards to pedestrians.

Exactly my point. But it's hugely successful as the city regardless.

Debatable. Tremendous homeless problems, constant water and power shortages, out of control wildfires, woeful lack of affordable housing, 24/7 traffic jams, horrible pedestrian experience and general cost of living; from utilities and taxes to real estate and food. Is there a lot of industry in LA, yes, but that alone does not qualify it as a successful city, let alone hugely.

[moderne]

The rooftop screening hiding the mechanical equipment is being installed. Garage should be soon.

[GRID]

Considering the location and being next to a freeway, the big boxes of the convention center etc, it seems fine to me as far as urban street interaction. It's a business convention hotel with its own giant ballroom box and parking garage. I honestly think it looks pretty good for what it is and the location. It turned out a lot better than I thought it would.

[normalthings]

The convention space/ballroom was left with its lights on last night. It looked pretty sweet from Main Street.

[KCTOGA]

Considering the location and being next to a freeway, the big boxes of the convention center etc, it seems fine to me as far as urban street interaction. It's a business convention hotel with its own giant ballroom box and parking garage. I honestly think it looks pretty good for what it is and the location. It turned out a lot better than I thought it would.

My feelings exactly!!!

[GRID]

Just some stats from a competing city.
https://denverinfill.com/blog/2020/01/2 ... gW5ou-IPt8

Downtown Denver now has over 11,000 hotel rooms with 1000 more under construction. Pretty impressive.

[KCPowercat]

Denver really isn't known for their convention business either. Seems like a lot of rooms

[rokhok]

As far as a quick count gave me.. with Loews.. KC DT/Crossroads/Crown Center will have just over 6K rooms available in total. That does not include Briarcliff, Westport, Plaza or KU Med which are all fairly close transit wise. That is also not including anything else under construction / planned outside of Loews.

[flyingember]

As far as a quick count gave me.. with Loews.. KC DT/Crossroads/Crown Center will have just over 6K rooms available in total. That does not include Briarcliff, Westport, Plaza or KU Med which are all fairly close transit wise. That is also not including anything else under construction / planned outside of Loews.

5684


Marriot 983
Crowne Plaza 388
President 121
Philips 217
Holiday Inn Aladdin 193
Westin Crown Center 724
Sheraton Crown Center 733
Comfort Inn and Suites 110
Fairfield inn 115
Savoy 120
Ambassador 113
1524 Main Courtyard + Residence 257
Hampton Inn Gumbel Bldg 70
Hampton Inn 16th/Main: 132
Hilton Home2 115
Indigo Loop 113
Indigo Crossroads 80
Pabst/Pendergast Crossroads Hotel 125
HI Express (Interstate Bldg, 417 E 13th) 76
Loews 800
24th/Troost 90

KC Club 114
Hayatt House 153
Federal Reserve 301
Palace Building Canopy 110
Riverfront Hotel 120
Hotel Bravo 300
Scarritt Wyndham Grand 193
Cambria 9th/Wyandotte 149

[KC_JAYHAWK]

Just some stats from a competing city.
https://denverinfill.com/blog/2020/01/2 ... gW5ou-IPt8

Downtown Denver now has over 11,000 hotel rooms with 1000 more under construction. Pretty impressive.

That's crazy. I wonder how many hotels rooms Nashville has now. I honestly don't think KC could support much more, but a W hotel would be nice. Convention biz just isn't what it was 20 years ago and most of the really big conventions are locked into cities like Vegas, Orlando, DFW, Atlanta, etc.

[earthling]

According Collison and Biz Journal past references, KC supposedly has 30K-35K hotel/motel rooms metro wide (not including AirBNB rooms) and about half that apparently meet some form of convention class status. KC might not be able to support more overall but what could occur is a shift from suburban motels/hotels to city core hotels as older ones are no longer marketable or feasibly upgradeable. An example is one in OP that is not worth upgrading, being converted to storage units.

Is plausible that downtown could support a lot more hotel rooms as long as the net metro total doesn't increase much if at all, but the question is what is limit at the minimal downtown pricepoint that can be pulled off. Once streetcar goes through Midtown, could see some lower grade hotels (not necessarily convention class) building up, offsetting suburban hotel rooms.

Does anyone know how the class of hotels are determined by convention biz? IE, is the Quality Inn at 35th/Main and Best Western on Main counted? Could see a shift of more of those from burbs into city core.

[KCPowercat]

blue uplights on the crappy side of this building tonight. Improves the crappy side 8%

[normalthings]

As far as a quick count gave me.. with Loews.. KC DT/Crossroads/Crown Center will have just over 6K rooms available in total. That does not include Briarcliff, Westport, Plaza or KU Med which are all fairly close transit wise. That is also not including anything else under construction / planned outside of Loews.

Marriot 983
Crowne Plaza 388 385 (-3)
President 121 213 (92)
Philips 217
Holiday Inn Aladdin 193
Westin Crown Center 724
Sheraton Crown Center 733 730 (-3)
Comfort Inn and Suites 110 115. (5)
Fairfield inn 115
Savoy 120
Ambassador 113
1524 Main Courtyard + Residence 257 261. (4)
Hampton Inn Gumbel Bldg 70 74 (4)
Hampton Inn 16th/Main: 132
Hilton Home2 115
Indigo Loop 113
Indigo Crossroads 80
Pabst/Pendergast Crossroads Hotel 125 124 (-1)
HI Express (Interstate Bldg, 417 E 13th) 76 75 (-1)
Loews 800
24th/Troost 90

KC Club 114
Hayatt House 153
Federal Reserve 301
Palace Building Canopy 110
Riverfront Hotel 120
Hotel Bravo 300
Scarritt Wyndham Grand 193
Cambria 9th/Wyandotte 149

I edited a few hotels on your list with the numbers that VisitKC & KC Convention Center have.

Open + Loews:
5684
+97
=5781

Under Construction or Proposed:
1440

[GRID]

I thought federal reserve was dead.

[TheLastGentleman]

One of Collison's recent articles makes it sound like it hasn't died, acknowledging the lack of recent activity.

My bet is that demolition has wrapped, but they still haven't done much design or are redesigning it. Who knows at this point