Century Plaza / Convention Hotel rumoring (archive)

[mattaudio]

Yes actually after looking at my map, the streetcar corridors actually match nicely with shopping/neighborhood connection corridors... Nicollet (obviously), 9th or 10th, Washington Ave, and Chicago Ave. Woohoo!

[Aville_37]

Do they have any plans or anything out there?

Edit* I found them

http://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/n ... ge_gallery

They are taking off the amazing retro bronze trim. That is pretty much the best part about the MIllennium.

Yes, that patina copper detail is a really nice piece from the early 60's. This hotel must have been strikingly modern when it was built. The interior rehab looks great, but once again, the exterior facade should be updated a bit ( but retaining the patina copper detailing from the 1960's). That's the same problem I had with the renovation of the Hyatt: nothing done to the exterior to update the look. Cheapskates!

It would be great if they reopened/rehabbed the dome. I believe it used to be a ballroom.

[mnmike]

Delayed response...

That hotel is in such dire need of rehab...this has been in the works for a couple years now, but there have been fights between the ownership and management. The dome is still open...it is banquet space. When built, it was a rotating restaurant. It doesn't rotate anymore, but it is a great space to rent for events! Still very well used, because it has amazing views.

I totally agree about the bronze on the front, they should keep it!

This originally opened as "Capp towers", and has been so many hotels over the years...Still owned by Mr. Capp. Park Inn and Regal come to mind, I think it may have been a Holiday Inn for a time? Anyway, it is in the worst shape of any hotel downtown right now, which is why they need to close to renovate(which is pretty unusual).

[MNdible]

One of the articles made the interesting note that the Millennium is unusual because the hotel operator leases rather than owns the building. This apparently has made anything more than cosmetic upgrades a complicated process.

[writruth]

Hennepin County is due to complete it's report on whether there is enough demand to warrant the building of a 1000-plus room Convention Center hotel in Downtown Minneapolis. According to a story last summer in the Business Journal, the report should be ready by the end of the year.

Proponents argue the need for such a hotel to attract the nation's largest conventions/trade shows and to compete with cities like Indianapolis and others that have recently opened their own convention hotels. It will be interesting to see what the report recommends and what the impact could have on the Downtown skyline.

[John]

Hennepin County is due to complete it's report on whether there is enough demand to warrant the building of a 1000-plus room Convention Center hotel in Downtown Minneapolis. According to a story last summer in the Business Journal, the report should be ready by the end of the year.

Proponents argue the need for such a hotel to attract the nation's largest conventions/trade shows and to compete with cities like Indianapolis and others that have recently opened their own convention hotels. It will be interesting to see what the report recommends and what the impact could have on the Downtown skyline.

I'm confident they are going to recommend this be built at 330 South 12th. Retiredbanker stated earlier on this thread that 4 developers are interested in building this hotel, and all conceptual designs are of significant height. This could well be our first skyscraper to go up in years!

[FISHMANPET]

Proponents argue the need for such a hotel to attract the nation's largest conventions/trade shows and to compete with cities like Indianapolis and others that have recently opened their own convention hotels.

I wish American cities/metros/states/regions would stop this endless race to the bottom of susidzing activity to lure it away from somewhere else that it's being subsidized. But if we don't play the same game as everybody else, we really do lose, so we have no choice.

[mplser]

How great would it be if they built this on top of i94? I know it will not happen, but would have been really cool to see.

[mattaudio]

Unfortunately the Convention Center was built to only address downtown to the north, and it's a hostile fortress on the other three sides. I understand why this was done considering the lack of other uses and freeways on two sides, but still.

[min-chi-cbus]

Proponents argue the need for such a hotel to attract the nation's largest conventions/trade shows and to compete with cities like Indianapolis and others that have recently opened their own convention hotels.

I wish American cities/metros/states/regions would stop this endless race to the bottom of susidzing activity to lure it away from somewhere else that it's being subsidized. But if we don't play the same game as everybody else, we really do lose, so we have no choice.

TOTALLY! That's partly why I don't care if this thing is built -- I didn't want Minneapolis to try to be vying for conventions when it's probably never going to be much of a convention city, and to become a major convention city would be taking a huge risk at a huge cost. Just built what we need and stop trying to compete with everyone else all the time.

[John]

That's partly why I don't care if this thing is built -- I didn't want Minneapolis to try to be vying for conventions when it's probably never going to be much of a convention city, and to become a major convention city would be taking a huge risk at a huge cost. Just built what we need and stop trying to compete with everyone else all the time.

You are incorrect. Minneapolis is already an active and major convention city, and has been so for many, many years. And having a proper hotel to support the convention center is good business for our city. There are several hotel developers who are interested in building one here because they understand this is a very dynamic and growing city with tons of great sports, entertainment, retail , and cultural amenities. In addition we have a magnificant convention center facility that is world class. All this criticisim is ridiculous. A new hotel would a great asset to the city and only improve our ability to attract even more conventions.

[min-chi-cbus]

That's partly why I don't care if this thing is built -- I didn't want Minneapolis to try to be vying for conventions when it's probably never going to be much of a convention city, and to become a major convention city would be taking a huge risk at a huge cost. Just built what we need and stop trying to compete with everyone else all the time.

You are incorrect. Minneapolis is already an active and major convention city, and has been so for many, many years. And having a proper hotel to support the convention center is good business for our city. There are several hotel developers who are interested in building one here because they understand this is a very dynamic and growing city with tons of great sports, entertainment, retail , and cultural amenities. In addition we have a magnificant convention center facility that is world class. All this criticisim is ridiculous. A new hotel would a great asset to the city and only improve our ability to attract even more conventions.

It's an opinion -- there is no right or wrong. And in terms of being a convention city Minneapolis swings way below its weight for its size as a convention mecca. It's just not what the city is. Developers are excited about this project because the city will subsidize much of the cost for them -- which is what fishmanpet was saying -- but there certainly aren't several of them willing to build one because if there were there would be no need for the market study that's being requested. Nobody would be upset about a developer building something that the city needed with its own money.

[MNdible]

Unfortunately the Convention Center was built to only address downtown to the north, and it's a hostile fortress on the other three sides. I understand why this was done considering the lack of other uses and freeways on two sides, but still.

Also, remember that convention centers need back doors. Huge back doors, capable of accommodating, staging, and unloading dozens of semi-trailer trucks simultaneously.

[Nick]

It's been established that it's pretty clear/isn't just an opinion that there's a demand for 1,000+ rooms in one place but there's definitely not demand in the overall downtown market for another 1,000 rooms. So we can subsidize a new, bulky mid-rise hotel that will maybe draw a couple more conventions to town, and will likely put at least one other hotel out of business in the long run. Big gubmint picking winners again!

That said, there are a number of small hotels downtown that are pretty ugly. I wouldn't mind tearing a couple of them down and building something in their place...in ten years when we have fewer surface lots.

[min-chi-cbus]

It's been established that it's pretty clear/isn't just an opinion that there's a demand for 1,000+ rooms in one place but there's definitely not demand in the overall downtown market for another 1,000 rooms. So we can subsidize a new, bulky mid-rise hotel that will maybe draw a couple more conventions to town, and will likely put at least one other hotel out of business in the long run. Big gubmint picking winners again!

That said, there are a number of small hotels downtown that are pretty ugly. I wouldn't mind tearing a couple of them down and building something in their place...in ten years when we have fewer surface lots.

I don't understand this statement. Does it mean that there is demand for 1,000 rooms, but just not all in one building? Does it mean the metro area can handle 1,000 rooms but not downtown Mpls? I'm not quite sure I understand.

Unless there's been another update on this, the last I heard there was a request for advisors to study whether or not there was demand in downtown Minneapolis for a 1,000+ room convention-style hotel, and that they weren't certain yet. I also didn't think there were any developers lined up to build this thing (if there were, why would they pay for the demand study?) -- at least, not any developers who are willing to build this without a subsidy of some sort (like a free site/building from the city).

[Andrew_F]

I don't understand this statement. Does it mean that there is demand for 1,000 rooms, but just not all in one building? Does it mean the metro area can handle 1,000 rooms but not downtown Mpls? I'm not quite sure I understand.

Kind of the opposite. There is demand from large conventions for a huge hotel where they can get 1,000 rooms together, but there aren't really 1,000 hotel rooms worth of pent-up demand.

[Wedgeguy]

I don't understand this statement. Does it mean that there is demand for 1,000 rooms, but just not all in one building? Does it mean the metro area can handle 1,000 rooms but not downtown Mpls? I'm not quite sure I understand.

Kind of the opposite. There is demand from large conventions for a huge hotel where they can get 1,000 rooms together, but there aren't really 1,000 hotel rooms worth of pent-up demand.

That is a perfect way to describe the situation. Yes and NO!

[Avian]

I've never organized a trade show, but yes, I would imagine a lot of conventions would rather have most of their attendees all at one hotel rather than scattered across three or four. Only because it would probably make communication and coordination easier. That said, Minneapolis does have a rather unique situation in that the 4 hotels adjacent to the CC (Hyatt, Millenium, Ivy & Hilton) already have a combined total of 1800 hotel rooms that are accessible "indoors" via the skyways.

[gahwi003]

Atricle in the Journal today: Link

No new information IMO. Results of the analysis should be released next month.

Is this study looking at how a new 1,000 room hotel could serve other events (besides conventions) such as viking games, etc?

[John]

A well designed new convention center hotel would be fantastic for our downtown and convention business, and add yet another element to our growing list of world class civic, cultural ,business, and sports facilities. I'm confident they will recommend building it, and it will rival our tallest skyscrapers in height.