Salt Lake:Official development news thread - Part 2 - Page 486

Future Mayor · #**9701** Posted: **Apr 3, 2012, 5:31 PM**

Public subsidy for a convention hotel in S.L.?

Interesting video about a convention hotel.

http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/n...-hotel-in-s-l/

Old&New · #**9702** Posted: **Apr 3, 2012, 5:54 PM**

Of course Rosa is against the proposed convention hotel, it will initially compete with his two hotels.

Stenar · #**9703** Posted: **Apr 3, 2012, 6:13 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Future Mayor

Public subsidy for a convention hotel in S.L.?

Interesting video about a convention hotel.

http://www.sutherlandinstitute.org/n...-hotel-in-s-l/

Oh brother!

First of all, the video quality and voiceover make it look like the video was shot in the late '70s.

Second, the main guy they have against it runs several hotels, 2 hotels downtown, so he's automatically going to say NO. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the Utah Hospitality Association (not to be confused with Utah Hospitality, a private group that owns the hotels Rich Rosa operates) contacted Sutherland Institute to help them lobby against a convention hotel, similar to how they lobbied against the 1,000-room Marriott back in 2004.

Third, he says that there won't be enough hotel room nights to go around if other hotels have to compete against a convention hotel. However, he obviously hasn't ever heard that a rising tide lifts all boats, in other words, a convention hotel brings more and larger conventions to SLC, increasing the overall demand for hotel rooms.

Also, they mention in the video that the Salt Lake council held meetings... which if they're not going to specifiy sounds like Salt Lake City council, but they showed a photo of what I assume is Salt Lake County's council room. This last part is a bit nitpicky, but it just makes this group lose credibility when they make stuff really vague in the video.

Comrade Reynolds · #**9704** Posted: **Apr 3, 2012, 7:21 PM**

Fourthly, it's from the Sutherland Institute. That's enough for me to not care what they think.

UTPlanner · #**9705** Posted: **Apr 3, 2012, 8:04 PM**

I completely agree that I also generally disregard anything that spews forth from the Sutherland Institute, but I think it's important to hear just what was said. There will be opposition to a convention center hotel that includes any amount of public subsidy. I think those that support the project should hear the opposing arguments so that they will be able to refute them if need be.

I have been asking around to a few people that I know that work in SL County. From what I've heard, the proposed convention hotel may fall into the hands of whomever is elected county Mayor in the fall. I have heard that Mayor Corroon does not want this to become an election issue from whomever becomes the democratic candidate. Obviously, this is nothing but heresay but take it for whatever it's worth.

Makid · #**9706** Posted: **Apr 3, 2012, 8:20 PM**

From what I have heard and read about the convention hotel, at least 2 hotel companies approached the County about the need fora convention hotel.

They both are ready to go with the construction, however, to attach to the convention center, they would need to provide public parking. They asked that the County provide some capital to assist with the additional parking that would be needed to satisfy the Counties requirement.

The County is also looking at paying for additional meeting space within the hotel. No subsidy of the hotel is going to be provided, only the public parking and additional meeting space would be subsidized.

I have heard that the County would like to have all their ducks in a row by the summer - Outdoor Retailers Show - so that they are able to announce the hotel and the shows continued commitment to Salt Lake.

We should know if what I have heard is correct by the summer ORS this year.

I would personally hope that we end up with 2 hotels, one with the public subsidy and another built for convention demand alone with both hotels having approximately 1000 rooms. Similar to what is taking place in Austin right now.

gusam26 · #**9707** Posted: **Apr 3, 2012, 9:26 PM**

I'm not sure if some of you guys have notice but the AJ kwik mart on main is gone, theres an available sign on it already. I for one am happy. I wasn't a big fan of the crowd that would gather in front of it.

arkhitektor · #**9708** Posted: **Apr 3, 2012, 9:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by gusam26

I'm not sure if some of you guys have notice but the AJ kwik mart on main is gone, theres an available sign on it already. I for one am happy. I wasn't a big fan of the crowd that would gather in front of it.

I can see your point, but I'm a little sad it's gone at the same time. The people that ran it were very friendly, and it was one of the only places on Main you could quickly run in for a pack of gum or a bottle of water while in the area.

Does anybody know if the Coffee Garden is keeping their walk-up location on Main St. now that the bookstore is gone? That was another place that I frequented between TRAX transfers a lot back when I lived in the area and Gallivan Plaza was the red/blue line transfer station.

Wasatch_One · #**9709** Posted: **Apr 3, 2012, 9:44 PM**

We just had a big (~5,000 people) multi-day event at the convention center a few weeks ago. This is the first year that we've expanded the convention outside of the Grand America/Little America + GA/LA convention space.

One of the complaints I was hearing from my customers was how disconnected all the attendees were. It was good during the day but then the "night life" died down when everyone went to their respective 5-6 hotels around the city.

We really need a single (or two) large hotels right next to the Salt Palace if we want to remain competitive on a national convention consideration list.

SLC Projects · #**9710** Posted: **Apr 3, 2012, 10:07 PM**

Rich Rosa, "vice president of operations at Utah Hospitality who currently owns two hotels in Salt Lake City, says this proposed hotel would not be financially viable"

Well of course Rosa isn't for it. Why would he want to compete with more hotels. It's just money out of his pocket.

However I also look at it this way........1000 room Hotel Convention = Bigger conventions = more people visiting/coming downtown = filling up hotel rooms for not only this large hotel, but also the other hotels downtown including Rosa's two hotels. This helps everybody.

Scraperdude801 · #**9711** Posted: **Apr 4, 2012, 12:46 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by arkhitektor

I can see your point, but I'm a little sad it's gone at the same time. The people that ran it were very friendly, and it was one of the only places on Main you could quickly run in for a pack of gum or a bottle of water while in the area.

Does anybody know if the Coffee Garden is keeping their walk-up location on Main St. now that the bookstore is gone? That was another place that I frequented between TRAX transfers a lot back when I lived in the area and Gallivan Plaza was the red/blue line transfer station.

There is a new place called Market on Main which will serve the purpose of the AJ Kwik Mart, and then some; it is located just a couple doors to the north of the old Kwik Mart.

As for the Coffee Garden, I was in there on Sunday, and they are staying open in conjunction with the new bookstore, which is not an LDS bookstore, although they claim to carry more LDS titles than Deseret Book.

Future Mayor · #**9712** Posted: **Apr 4, 2012, 12:54 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scraperdude801

There is a new place called Market on Main which will serve the purpose of the AJ Kwik Mart, and then some; it is located just a couple doors to the north of the old Kwik Mart.

One door north to be exact.

UTPlanner · #**9713** Posted: **Apr 4, 2012, 2:42 PM**

FYI-- I heard some interesting information about a project to remodel the Tribue Building on Main for occupancy by a tech company. They wouldn't share the name of the company but admitted that they were working on a financing package for the remodel. I think it would be great to see that building cleaned up and occupied.

jedikermit · #**9714** Posted: **Apr 4, 2012, 3:06 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by UTPlanner

FYI-- I heard some interesting information about a project to remodel the Tribue Building on Main for occupancy by a tech company. They wouldn't share the name of the company but admitted that they were working on a financing package for the remodel. I think it would be great to see that building cleaned up and occupied.

That'd be wonderful! The building definitely has its problems, but cleaned up, there's a lot of potential there. Move on in!!!

Future Mayor · #**9715** Posted: **Apr 4, 2012, 3:58 PM**

That's good news that they is the possibility of a commercial tenants moving into the Trib Building. Once the Trib and subsequently the NAC (now Media One) moved out, I wasn't sure that a commercial tenant would ever move back in. It's a very odd shaped floor plan and I figured because of that it would be hard to be leased as commercial space. I thought it would be a great location for either apartments or condos. I am just glad to see that is might be occupied. I do hope the first floor will be used for retail though.

Stenar · #**9716** Posted: **Apr 4, 2012, 7:04 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by UTPlanner

FYI-- I heard some interesting information about a project to remodel the Tribue Building on Main for occupancy by a tech company. They wouldn't share the name of the company but admitted that they were working on a financing package for the remodel. I think it would be great to see that building cleaned up and occupied.

That's great news!!

Orlando · #**9717** Posted: **Apr 4, 2012, 7:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stenar

Oh brother!

First of all, the video quality and voiceover make it look like the video was shot in the late '70s.

Second, the main guy they have against it runs several hotels, 2 hotels downtown, so he's automatically going to say NO. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the Utah Hospitality Association (not to be confused with Utah Hospitality, a private group that owns the hotels Rich Rosa operates) contacted Sutherland Institute to help them lobby against a convention hotel, similar to how they lobbied against the 1,000-room Marriott back in 2004.

Were there any renderings for the proposed Marriott? Did they proposed to tear down the existing and rebuild in its place or build across the street on the NW corner of 1st S. and W. Temple? And, how tall was it proposed to be?

Stenar · #**9718** Posted: **Apr 4, 2012, 7:08 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orlando

Were there any renderings for the proposed Marriott? Did they proposed to tear down the existing and rebuild in its place or build across the street on the NW corner of 1st S. and W. Temple? And, how tall was it proposed to be?

I believe they wanted to tear down the buildings on the corner. I'm not sure how tall. I tried previously, without luck, to find the articles about it that were printed at the time. I'll try again.

Stenar · #**9719** Posted: **Apr 4, 2012, 8:06 PM**

I've found this article, but it's not the original article I saw in the Tribune in either late 2003 or early 2004. This one mentions possibly expanding the Marriott Downtown.

This article is dated Sept 2004 and then the Marriott Downtown hotel was sold 3 months later, so the new owners obviously didn't follow through with any expansion plans the previous owners were considering:

Salt Lake hotel may expand
By Brice Wallace
Deseret Morning News

In close proximity to significant changes in its surroundings, the Marriott Downtown might expand during the next few years.

Or it might not.

The 510-room hotel's owner, Host Marriott, is in the "very, very early stages" of what might lead to the addition of rooms at the hotel, which opened in 1981.

"All we're trying to do is evaluate: is there some demand in the market and would it make sense to do some type of expansion?" said Steve Lundgren, the hotel's general manager. "The owners may decide not to invest in this marketplace. They're trying to get an assessment of marketplace and whether it makes sense."
...

The community, he said, would benefit from having a "headquarters" hotel — one that serves as the primary lodging facility when conventions are in town and are usually located close by or connected to the convention center itself.

"There is an opportunity to have a headquarters hotel here, and over time it would be well-supported. Whether it would be our hotel or not is still to be determined," Lundgren said.

Published: Friday, Sept. 3 2004 12:00 a.m. MDT

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/5...pand.html?pg=1

I don't know the exact date of the 1,000 room Marriott Hotel article in the Trib, but I would guesstimate between Fall of 2003 to Spring of 2004. It was definitely before this article talking about expanding the current hotel. I'm guessing that after they were spurned by Utah Hospitality Association lobbying against them building a new hotel across the street, they were considering expanding the current location.

I read the Trib every morning online and saw the article about Marriott proposing a 1,000 room convention hotel and thought it was cool. I got to work and my boss shows me the paper and says, "Have you seen this?" He looks all doom and gloom about it. Half an hour later, I'm in a meeting at Little America and the top staff of the "Little" hotel is all discussing ways to lobby against this 1,000 room hotel.

Stenar · #**9720** Posted: **Apr 4, 2012, 9:01 PM**

I also found an article from 2008 in the Deseret News which mentions Arrow Press Square as a possible location for a convention hotel. This was 4 years after the initial Trib article I saw, though. (I'm sure of the date because it occurred when I was working at the Grand America Hotel (between June 2003 and November 2004).

"The Salt Lake Chamber's Downtown Alliance last spring had identified Arrow Press Square as a potential site for a large hotel to serve visitors to the Salt Palace Convention Center."

This was just a small mention in an article about 39/42 LLC buying the Tribune building. It mentioned this because 39/42 LLC also owns buildings at Arrow Press Square.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7...ding.html?pg=2