Philly convention center expansion creating new hotels
The largest single public works project in the history of Pennsylvania opened earlier this year and already the city of Philadelphia is bringing in major conventions.
The five-year, $786 million expansion of the city’s convention center led to its offering 2.3 million square feet of space that recently attracted The International Society of Technology in Education with its 20,000 attendees who used 28,500 hotel room nights. It had an economic impact of US$40 million.
“At the forefront of economic development are additional hotel rooms needed in Philadelphia,” says the city’s Convention and Visitors Bureau (PCVB). It added:
“It is expected that an additional 1,500 hotel rooms are essential to meet the needs of the expanded convention center, which has grown by 62 per cent and has the ability to host two conventions simultaneously or mega tradeshows.”
Philadelphia added more than 500 hotel rooms to its inventory in anticipation of the expanded convention center.
Le Méridien Philadelphia, a 201-room hotel, opened last year near the center.
Kimpton is developing a second property — the Lafayette Building, along Independence Mall, which will open as the Hotel Monaco. The 270–room hotel is expected to open in the third quarter of 2012.
In addition, Homewood Suites is building a 130-room facility at 41st and Walnut streets in the University City section of Philadelphia, slated for completion in spring of 2012.
In 2010, sales of Philadelphia hotel rooms reached an all-time high — approximately four million room nights were sold in the City.
The convention center’s huge ballroom, the size of a football field and able to hold 6,000 attendees, has been particularly popular. The expanded center has also been certified as an environmentally-friendly LEED building.
By David Wilkening
David
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