Kansas City is about to get something it's long been lacking, Mayor Sly James announced yesterday: a convention center hotel.
"Kansas City needs a major downtown convention hotel, and has for several years," James said in a statement. "America has fallen in love with Kansas City and wants to have its conventions and large meetings here. The proposed agreement is the right development at the right location with the right hotel operator, and now is the right time to do it."
According to Kansas City's convention and visitors bureau, Visit KC, Kansas City made a major commitment to be a premier meeting and convention destination a generation ago. Its national convention ranking has fallen since the 1970s, however, due to increased competition from other cities, which have financed and developed new convention centers and supporting amenities -- including lodging, Kansas City's current levels of which are capable of supporting only small and medium-sized meetings.
"This announcement is a game changer for the KC hospitality industry," said Visit KC President and CEO Ronnie Burt. "Over the last 10 years, Kansas City has lost out on hundreds of groups, representing millions of room nights and more than $3 billion in economic impact."
At a cost of $300 million, the proposed hotel is a public-private partnership that will be financed primarily by convention and tourism taxes. Operated by Hyatt, it will be located across the street from the Kansas City Convention Center's Grand Ballroom. It will have 800 guest rooms; 15,450 square feet of retail, restaurant, bar, and lounge space; a 9,913-square-foot recreational facility; a parking facility with up to 500 spaces; a 9,000-square-foot garden/terrace; and approximately 75,000 square feet of meeting space.
"Hyatt has a longstanding relationship with Kansas City," said David J. Tarr, senior vice president of real estate and development for Hyatt. "The growth in downtown development has primed the city to regain convention and visitor business, and Hyatt is excited by the opportunity to participate in the continuing expansion."
Construction on the new hotel will commence in early 2016 and is scheduled for completion in 2018.
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