Hotel boom: Shouldn't Bricktown have the convention center

It seems like with 9 new hotels for Bricktown, not putting the CC in Bricktown is insane. Chamber needs to wake up and get an idea of where hospitality in OKC is headed.

Honestly Bricktown might even be too good IMO for this super block facility, but it would be much more of a win-win than the current proposed location.

I would even cast major dispersions on the need for a city subsidized CC hotel with NINE new hotels planned or u/c in Bricktown. Downtown's hotel demand is catching up, finally. It would be wrongheaded to funnel more resources toward that when we have other improvement areas needed.

Shhhhh!

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Originally Posted by Spartan

It seems like with 9 new hotels for Bricktown, not putting the CC in Bricktown is insane. Chamber needs to wake up and get an idea of where hospitality in OKC is headed.

Honestly Bricktown might even be too good IMO for this super block facility, but it would be much more of a win-win than the current proposed location.

I would even cast major dispersions on the need for a city subsidized CC hotel with NINE new hotels planned or u/c in Bricktown. Downtown's hotel demand is catching up, finally. It would be wrongheaded to funnel more resources toward that when we have other improvement areas needed.

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That is what I have been saying...but most people on here thought I was crazy when I mentioned this...

Spartan, you're one of the smartest people on this board, so I'm not casting aspersions, but I don't understand your logic. I've always been under the impression that the kind of rooms/services needed to attract the good-sized conventions and associated convention-goers are of the full-service variety. Are delegates to big industry conventions really going to be given choices like Candlewood Suites and Holiday Inn Express? I thought blocks of 300,400,500 full-service rooms were de rigeur. I have a friend who books rooms for association conventions and he always uses Hyatts, Marriotts, etc. Usually all rooms are supposed to be in a single hotel. What am I missing?

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Originally Posted by Spartan

It seems like with 9 new hotels for Bricktown, not putting the CC in Bricktown is insane. Chamber needs to wake up and get an idea of where hospitality in OKC is headed.

Honestly Bricktown might even be too good IMO for this super block facility, but it would be much more of a win-win than the current proposed location.

I would even cast major dispersions on the need for a city subsidized CC hotel with NINE new hotels planned or u/c in Bricktown. Downtown's hotel demand is catching up, finally. It would be wrongheaded to funnel more resources toward that when we have other improvement areas needed.

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You're right, that 6 block walk is going to be a killer.

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Originally Posted by stlokc

Spartan, you're one of the smartest people on this board, so I'm not casting aspersions, but I don't understand your logic. I've always been under the impression that the kind of rooms/services needed to attract the good-sized conventions and associated convention-goers are of the full-service variety. Are delegates to big industry conventions really going to be given choices like Candlewood Suites and Holiday Inn Express? I thought blocks of 300,400,500 full-service rooms were de rigeur. I have a friend who books rooms for association conventions and he always uses Hyatts, Marriotts, etc. Usually all rooms are supposed to be in a single hotel. What am I missing?

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You're absolutely correct. While the kind of multiple hotels being built in Bricktown can offer backup support for larger conventions they are not what is required for a convention hotel and many convention planners wouldn't even consider a setup like that.

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Originally Posted by stlokc

Spartan, you're one of the smartest people on this board, so I'm not casting aspersions, but I don't understand your logic. I've always been under the impression that the kind of rooms/services needed to attract the good-sized conventions and associated convention-goers are of the full-service variety. Are delegates to big industry conventions really going to be given choices like Candlewood Suites and Holiday Inn Express? I thought blocks of 300,400,500 full-service rooms were de rigeur. I have a friend who books rooms for association conventions and he always uses Hyatts, Marriotts, etc. Usually all rooms are supposed to be in a single hotel. What am I missing?

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Yep. Definitely agree.

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Originally Posted by Spartan

It seems like with 9 new hotels for Bricktown, not putting the CC in Bricktown is insane. Chamber needs to wake up and get an idea of where hospitality in OKC is headed.

Honestly Bricktown might even be too good IMO for this super block facility, but it would be much more of a win-win than the current proposed location.

I would even cast major dispersions on the need for a city subsidized CC hotel with NINE new hotels planned or u/c in Bricktown. Downtown's hotel demand is catching up, finally. It would be wrongheaded to funnel more resources toward that when we have other improvement areas needed.

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short answer no

While I definitely disagree that we don't need a CC hotel with nine new hotels planned for Bricktown, I do agree that the hotel cluster in Bricktown would be advantageous for a Bricktown-located convention center. While people whose housing is being paid for by their company usually stay in the convention center hotel, sometimes there are people paying their own way, and close, less expensive hotels are not a bad thing. However, a CC hotel could be built in Bricktown as well (if there's still enough space available).

Even with all these recent announcements, as long as the Convention Hotel is built, there will still be more rooms in the Central Business District:

Hotel	Location	Status	Rooms	Total Rooms
Skirvin	CBD	complete	225
Sheraton	CBD	complete	395
Courtyard	CBD	complete	225
Renaissance	CBD	complete	311
Colcord	CBD	complete	108
Convention Hotel	CBD	proposed	500
				1,764
Hampton Inn	Bricktown	complete	200
Residence Inn	Bricktown	complete	151
Aloft	Deep Deuce	under const.	130
Hilton Garden Inn	Bricktown	under const.	255
Holiday Inn Express	Bricktown	under const.	124
Staybridge Suites	Bricktown	proposed	131
East Bricktown	Bricktown	proposed	150
Patel 1	Deep Deuce	proposed	125
Patel 2	Bricktown	proposed	125
Patel 3	Bricktown	proposed	125
				1,516
			Grand Total:	3,280*

* For comparison, there are approximately 5,000 hotel rooms in the I-40 & Meridian corridor and about 15,000 in the OKC area.

Plus one of the reasons for all the hotels in the Bricktown area is the rising demand overall. The Thunder and the playoffs are a huge part of this demand.

And don't forget that the streetcar will tie together the convention center with all these hotels, regardless of location.

Bricktown has also become a visitor destination. People are actually planning stops and stays there on trips. OKC used to be a pass through city. That is not really the case any longer.

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Originally Posted by Pete

Even with all these recent announcements, as long as the Convention Hotel is built, there will still be more rooms in the Central Business District:

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Move the convention hotel to Bricktown instead of downtown and see what it does to your numbers. That will be a 1000 room swing.

Downtown: 1,264
Bricktown: 2,016

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Originally Posted by Just the facts

Move the convention hotel to Bricktown instead of downtown and see what it does to your numbers. That will be a 1000 room swing.

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If you compare the existing and under construction hotels, the CBD still has 1,264 compared to 860 in Bricktown/DD.

Once you move into the proposed category, anything can happen.

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Originally Posted by Pete

And don't forget that the streetcar will tie together the convention center with all these hotels, regardless of location.

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Streetcar is being run out to Lincoln?

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Originally Posted by Pete

If you compare the existing and under construction hotels, the CBD still has 1,264 compared to 860 in Bricktown/DD.

Once you move into the proposed category, anything can happen.

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As long as it is proposed...

Oh dear. My first post casts aspersions on iPad autocorrect -_-

Convention Center will not be in Bricktown as long as mighty Mick is mayor. He has a narrow minded vision of Core to Shore and anything else he will not allow.

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Originally Posted by lasomeday

Convention Center will not be in Bricktown as long as mighty Mick is mayor. He has a narrow minded vision of Core to Shore and anything else he will not allow.

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He didnt pick the current spot

The spot the Mayor wanted was ruled out by the Sub-Committee, as Boulder said.

Its still in his Core to Shore area. Just like his "boulevard".

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Originally Posted by catch22

The spot the Mayor wanted was ruled out by the Sub-Committee, as Boulder said.

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And IMHO his location was 10x better

It would have been if we could build it taller, with a smaller footprint. That would have given the CC a great spot but also allowed the park to be surrounded by a neighborhood. Both goals accommodated.

Distance from Bricktown is irrelevant, we're talking what, 2 blocks? In San Diego, Gaslamp District is quite a trek from the Convention Center, and the CC area is pretty dead other than the faux disney mini-district Seaport Village. Vegas Convention Center is a mile or so drive from the strip. I can think of plenty of cities where the CC is a distance from the entertainment districts, and some don't have the best of public transit right by the convention center.