OFFICIAL - Loews Convention Hotel (formerly Hyatt)

[KC_JAYHAWK]

Omni announcement in Dec/Jan is a rumor I just heard....dunno.

Better not block my view of the PAC

[GRID]

Omni announcement in Dec/Jan is a rumor I just heard....dunno.

That would be awesome. I think a new hotel is a must if KC wants to land the gop convention.

[ThorsteinVeblen]

Boom Goes The Dynamite! Gotta get that Republican Convention...at least there is some motivation to get something built down there. I actually think hotel density in that area needs to improve but I know many posters may disagree, however, I don't want to go to a convention and then have to take transportation to get to events (walking across the street far more preferable).

[brewcrew1000]

I was at an Omni in Providence a couple months ago and I really impressed. The hotel was attached to the convention center but the Hotel was also attached to an upscale Oak Park type mall with a Dave and Busters inside. Kind of wish we had something like that or the Convention Center was connected to Crown Center

[flyingember]

I was at an Omni in Providence a couple months ago and I really impressed. The hotel was attached to the convention center but the Hotel was also attached to an upscale Oak Park type mall with a Dave and Busters inside. Kind of wish we had something like that or the Convention Center was connected to Crown Center

I'm not against walkways for places where there's no better solution but the best argument I heard against them is they keep actual street level developments from succeeding. and that changed my mind in general.

Minneapolis has a bunch of them and while I'm sure they're wonderful in winter, they close on weekends, too much of downtown is in the skyways which means there's no point in any weekend tourist in going downtown to eat. think of how many millions of dollars in tax money is lost from this. Houston has the same problem with tunnels downtown, they also close on the weekend. they have one of the single busiest rail transit lines in the country and no one wanders around their downtown on the weekend. it's worse than KC.

[KCMax]

What’s ahead (or not) in 2014 development

And speaking of turkeys, 2014 may be the last gasp for the idea of a downtown convention hotel....

There was a flurry of activity toward the end of the year, but the upshot was none of the development pitches made for the three major candidates — the block of the historic Power & Light Building, the so-called American Hereford Association site by the Performing Arts Center, or the block southwest of 14th Street and Baltimore Avenue — passed muster for city financial help.

And with a developer moving ahead with an unsubsidized 257-room hotel project at 16th and Baltimore, the old Savoy in store for a 120-room redevelopment, and other hotel projects afoot including the possible conversion of the old Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank on Grand Boulevard, the financial case for a 1,000-room behemoth appears to be getting weaker, not stronger.

Collison tweets Omni/Cordish deal is dead.

[aknowledgeableperson]

No surprise there.

[smh]

No surprise there.

Why?

[chingon]

No surprise there.

Why?

Because people only build hotels were they are financially viable with no incentives, like college and woodson.

[aknowledgeableperson]

No surprise there.

Why?

There was a study commissioned a few years ago that came to a conclusion that the hotel probably would not grow the city's convention business enough to help pay for it or some conclusion similar to that. The city might kick in some funds but not enough to offset the developer's cost to make it worthwhile. Having a hotel built nearby, albeit smaller but still a hotel, that is not requesting a subsidy does not help in justifying a large subsidy for a hotel that wouldn't drive the business. To quote someone famous "The times they are a changin" and I believe the city will be tightening the purse strings compared to the years of Barnes.

[flyingember]

To quote someone famous "The times they are a changin" and I believe the city will be tightening the purse strings compared to the years of Barnes.

agreed.

Starting with Funkhowser the city's legacy long term needs to be a city that expects relatively conservative financing and where projects need to be sold in the big picture of improving the whole city. not suburban vs urban

[earthling]

2013 convention bookings for future increases near 30% (room nights) compared to 2012 bookings. P&L, PAC, arena given as reasons.

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n ... l?page=all

[DaveKCMO]

rumor that the "mothballed" rooms at the marriott will be getting a makeover due to increased demand. can anyone confirm?

[aknowledgeableperson]

Would be about time.

[PumpkinStalker]

That would be awesome. I'm not sure how many rooms there are in the old Muehlebach portion, but when we had our wedding in the old lobby back in '09 I asked about it. The answer was simply they weren't needed and the amount of lead/asbestos that needed to be abated outweighed the need for the rooms at the time. I spent a lot of time trying to get up there into those hallways to look around in my younger days, never did.

[aknowledgeableperson]

I'm not sure how many rooms there are in the old Muehlebach portion

If memory serves me well those rooms were rather small. Any rehab would reduce the number of rooms. Talk years ago was to gut it and then build new inside.

[KCPowercat]

rumor that the "mothballed" rooms at the marriott will be getting a makeover due to increased demand. can anyone confirm?

Not true. Something in that building may get redone but not the rooms

[moderne]

Hope any remodeling does not misplace the ghosts.

[moderne]

Since he was so bowled over by Kansas City during his stay here as a Giants fan from San Francisco that he wrote the most glowing letter to the editor of the Star ever printed praising Kansas City, maybe Mr Pritzker will make efforts for his Hyatt chain to come back to Kansas City.

[mean]

Offer enough money, and they will come.