Convention Center

[Laramie]

Holiday Inn Express and 21C Museum Hotel opened.

Aloft and Ambassador a couple of years ago also.

Aloft - 130 rooms
Ambassador - 55 rooms
Holiday Inn - 124 rooms
21C Museum - 135 rooms
Embassy Suites - 194 rooms*

. . . 444 rooms were added since 2013

* 638 with the Embassy Suites

Downtown Hotel Summary: http://www.okctalk.com/showthread.php?t=34292

[stile99]

Depends where you draw the circle. The bottom line is there are approximately 1400 rooms in what visitokc.com considers to be 'downtown', and that's including 21C and the Embassy Suites on North Lincoln. Widening the circle to include Bricktown does inflate the count slightly, but I think it's a bit of a stretch to say 1000 rooms have come online in the last 3-4 years.

[bradh]

I'm afraid to ask but what is SoonerCon and WizardCon?

[Laramie]

I'm afraid to ask but what is SoonerCon and WizardCon?

You're not alone.

[shawnw]

To be clear I'm talking the actual downtown boundaries, not just the CBD

[jerrywall]

You're not alone.

SoonerCon is the oldest and longest running SCI/Fantasy convention in Oklahoma (with a 5 year gap). It just held it's 25th convention this past summer, but started 30 years ago. I used to run it until I retired last year. Wizard World (not wizard con) is one of the largest commercial convention organizations in the world, holding conventions in a dozen plus city annually. They tend to be big autograph conventions, bringing in stars from shows like Walking Dead and various movie actors. Their attendance often runs into the 10's of thousands. http://wizardworld.com/

[Laramie]

To be clear I'm talking the actual downtown boundaries, not just the CBD

Would that include the OU Medical/Research which includes GE along with Bricktown (upper & lower)?

[Laramie]

SoonerCon is the oldest and longest running SCI/Fantasy convention in Oklahoma (with a 5 year gap). It just held it's 25th convention this past summer, but started 30 years ago. I used to run it until I retired last year. Wizard World (not wizard con) is one of the largest commercial convention organizations in the world, holding conventions in a dozen plus city annually. They tend to be big autograph conventions, bringing in stars from shows like Walking Dead and various movie actors. Their attendance often runs into the 10's of thousands. http://wizardworld.com/

Gotta hand it to you Dr. Jerrywall; you're IN-THE-KNOW. We're fortunate to have many knowledgeable posters on the OKC Talk forum.

[jerrywall]

Would that include the OU Medical/Research which includes GE, Bricktown?

Well if we start stretching, we could include hotels on SE 15th and I-35, and In Del City and Midwest City. However, until we have better public transit, convention events will depend on the hotels within close walking distance to the event center.

[shawnw]

Would that include the OU Medical/Research which includes GE, Bricktown?

I was including bricktown, but I've never seen a definition of OU/Research including Bricktown....

I freely admit I was off, but I did say hundreds (which was correct) perhaps a thousand, only because I know we were supposed to end up at like 3500 at some point and I thought we were under 2500 when the hotel boom got going.....

Also, the Hilton Garden Inn opened within weeks of Aloft and wasn't included in the numbers above....

[jerrywall]

Aloft - 130 rooms
Ambassador - 55 rooms
Holiday Inn - 124 rooms
21C Museum - 135 rooms
Embassy Suites - 194 rooms*

. . . 444 rooms were added since 2013

* 638 with the Embassy Suites

Downtown Hotel Summary: http://www.okctalk.com/showthread.php?t=34292

The Hilton Garden Inn and Aloft threw me, because they were included in our count when we decided to relocate, but I remember now we were anticipating them being available for our 2014 show. Ambassador we didn't include since it's outside of the service area we were looking at. Ditto with Embassy Suites.

[Urbanized]

Open since 2013: 21C, Holiday Inn Express, Hilton Garden Inn, Homewood Suites, Ambassador, Aloft, Embassy Suites (OUHSC)

[Urbanized]

Oops. Missed a whole page.

[OKCRT]

Agree, we have an opportunity to get another non subsidized private hotel which could add 100-135 more rooms to the convention center site. We could have 700 to 735 rooms available on site by 2020.


A deal set to be heard Wednesday by the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority will allow development to being again on a Fairfield Inn in the area known as Core to Shore. Developer Andy Patel said upgrades will be made to the hotel, including a possible change in brands.

OKC will be poised to meet the demands of the convention industry as more hotel rooms are added to the core.

IMO They should change their plans and double the size of that Fairfield since it's going to be in that prime area next to CC. It would be nice to tout 1000 rooms next to CC.

[Canoe]

I loathe that parking lot next to the park. What are they thinking?

[jdross1982]

Serving an immediate and short term need while allowing future growth space.

[Teo9969]

I loathe that parking lot next to the park. What are they thinking?

It will eventually disappear.

Indeed, one of the things the design elements does a good job of is leaving room for future additions to be easily incorporated architecturally. The CC will likely span from SW 4th to SW 7th. We just ain't gots the money right now.

[Colbafone]

It will eventually disappear.

Indeed, one of the things the design elements does a good job of is leaving room for future additions to be easily incorporated architecturally. The CC will likely span from SW 4th to SW 7th. We just ain't gots the money right now.

That's what Randy Hogan said, ZING!

[Architect2010]

Aloft - 130 rooms
Ambassador - 55 rooms
Holiday Inn - 124 rooms
21C Museum - 135 rooms
Embassy Suites - 194 rooms*

. . . 444 rooms were added since 2013

* 638 with the Embassy Suites

Downtown Hotel Summary: http://www.okctalk.com/showthread.php?t=34292

Hilton Garden Inn/Homewood Suites has 255 rooms to add to the top list for 699 rooms. So 893 if you were to include the Embassy Suites? Even without Embassy, 700 rooms in the past 3 years is a great number and we all know we have a plethora of rooms on the way.

[Spartan]

What are you talking about?

The non subsidized Private hotel that is going to be build there

Are you sure about that?

[Laramie]

IMO They should change their plans and double the size of that Fairfield since it's going to be in that prime area next to CC. It would be nice to tout 1000 rooms next to CC.

Agree that we are ready for 1,000 rooms on the convention center site. It would put OKC in a position to lure some really big conventions.

Our leadership works within the means of their budget; therefore, they aren't likely to gamble with the convention center & hotel because it was the lease popular item on the MAPS III initiative.

We still need to figure out how we are going to acquire $10 million to fund the parking garage for convention center site.

[Pete]

Only bidder, SMG, gets convention center contract
By: Brian Brus The Journal Record November 8, 2016

OKLAHOMA CITY – The only company to submit a bid to manage the new MAPS 3 convention center downtown was awarded the contract Tuesday.

The Oklahoma City branch of Pennsylvania-based SMG will also continue to manage the Cox Convention Center at the discretion of the Oklahoma City Public Property Authority, as well as operations services for an expansion area that may include surface parking.

Management and operations services will cost the city $200,000 for a base fee in the first year with cost escalation calculated for subsequent years. The company will also receive 10 percent of net income from food and beverages sales and incentive fees and service commissions based on performance.

SMG will be paid as well for pre-opening consultation services with a monthly retainer of $4,000, not to exceed $150,000 plus expenses. Those responsibilities include developing a booking policy for the center in cooperation with the Oklahoma City Convention and Visitors Bureau, marketing, sponsorships and creating catering menus. SMG will also help architects and engineers design the facility’s infrastructure and amenities.

Work on the $252 million project is expected to kick off this year. It is slated to open in 2020 in conjunction with the completion of a 70-acre central park and modern streetcar route, which are also part of a larger package of projects worth $777 million under the MAPS 3 temporary sales tax.

“This has been a hallmark week for us,” City Manager Jim Couch said. “Earlier this day we set the operating agreement for the MAPS 3 park, and then last Friday COTPA (Central Oklahoma Transportation and Parking Authority) entered an agreement to begin negotiations for the operation of the modern streetcar.”

“That’s a lot of progress being made on a lot of different fronts,” he said.

SMG held a similar position almost 20 years ago when it was chosen to manage the Cox, which was called the Myriad Convention Center at the time.

[Spartan]

Agree that we are ready for 1,000 rooms on the convention center site. It would put OKC in a position to lure some really big conventions.

Our leadership works within the means of their budget; therefore, they aren't likely to gamble with the convention center & hotel because it was the lease popular item on the MAPS III initiative.

We still need to figure out how we are going to acquire $10 million to fund the parking garage for convention center site.

There is no way that OKC can keep 1000 hotel rooms on one site above 60% avg occupancy. St. Louis couldn't do that. Birmingham and Louisville come close bc they don't have nearly the inventory of small downtown hotels that OKC has. And both of those CC hotels suck bigly.

[cinnamonjock]

Did you mean "bigly" or "big league"?

[pure]

There is no way that OKC can keep 1000 hotel rooms on one site above 60% avg occupancy. St. Louis couldn't do that. Birmingham and Louisville come close bc they don't have nearly the inventory of small downtown hotels that OKC has. And both of those CC hotels suck bigly.

Marriott @ NCED in Norman is consistently at 70%-90% occupancy with its 964 guest rooms. Granted, about 10% of that are USPS students in town for Postal training but most of it is transient and non-postal conferences.

Source: I work for Marriott at this location. Over the years, business has had its up and downs but with a good sales team, it has stayed really full and busy the past couple of years.