Downtown USA is suddenly a cool place to be. Condos are filling up with young professionals and empty nesters tired of mowing their suburban lawns. Old warehouses are sporting trendy restaurants, sports bars and ultra lounges. Flophouses and pawnshops are reincarnated as boutique houses and art galleries.
From Baltimore to Los Angeles, a wave of urban makeovers, sometimes decades in the making, are coming to fruition. Along with becoming better places in which to live, work and watch a ballgame, many urban centers are also becoming better places in which to hold a meeting.
While there are a lot of forces at work besides the desire of cities to ramp up their convention business, there’s no denying that meetings are one of the major catalysts behind downtown improvements. The impact of meetings is most evident in the wave of entertainment districts that are cropping up near once-isolated convention centers.
“Cities need to show meeting planners that they have more than just a big convention center, so they are taking a more creative role,” says hospitality industry consultant Mark Eble, regional vice president for PKF Consulting in Indianapolis. “The CVBs have spent a lot of time and money seeing what groups want. One of the things they want is entertainment, and cities are working hard to give this to them.”
Eble cites Memphis, Tenn.’s Beale Street as a classic example of a once-blighted area transformed into an entertainment district filled with restaurants, bars, museums, and venues that showcase the city’s music heritage.
“A few decades ago, Beale Street was not a place you’d want to be,” he says. “Now it’s an amenity for both the local citizens and for meetings.”
Eble notes that much of the nation’s newfound appreciation for downtown amenities is happening in second- and third-tier convention cities, many of which have discovered they need more restaurants, clubs and sightseeing attractions to support their new or expanded convention centers.
“This is where competition for conventions, including trade shows and SMERF groups, is really keen right now. These cities really duke it out for this very lucrative business,” he says. “The idea is to create a profile that gives the city an advantage. The downtown entertainment district helps accomplish this.”
Rick Hughes, president and CEO of the Kansas City CVB, agrees, noting that his city, which will unveil an $850 million entertainment district next spring, is among those feeling the heat.
“We knew that we needed not only to bring our convention center into the 21st century, but to offer something more than just a big box,” he says. “This is a much bigger issue than it was years ago. Everything has changed so much. Thirty or 40 years ago Kansas City was one of the top five meetings destinations. There was no Orlando or Opryland. Now the competition for meetings business is enormous.”
Fierce Competition
In Baltimore, where some $11 billion worth of downtown redevelopment is under way, Tom Noonan, president and CEO of the Baltimore Area Convention & Visitors Authority, has a similar observation.
“Competition has gotten cutthroat between cities,” he says. “A lot of cities have entered the marketplace that weren’t there 10 or 15 years ago. So entertainment elements have become very important. The convention delegate is a tourist, too, and if you’re considering attending a convention, you consider what there is to do in the city.”
Far from just window dressing, Hughes says entertainment districts are now regarded as an element that is essential to the success of a meeting. He refers to the time spent out of the meeting room and hotel as the “third element” of the meeting.
“The third element, the time when people get out into the city, is a really important engagement point,” he says. “People aren’t just out sucking down a beer—they’re socializing with others in the group and forming bonds.”
Terri Breining, CMP, president of San Diego-based Concepts Worldwide, is among meeting planners who find entertainment districts a valuable asset. In particular, she cites San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter as a convenient and varied place where planners can “turn people loose” for a free evening.
“Entertainment districts give planners more reason to book a place,” she says. “People get a chance to experience the city in an individual way and yet still make connections. You run into people from the conference, but it’s not contrived. In some ways, those kinds of connections are the most meaningful of all. It’s what makes a live meeting better than a webcast—the chance for connection.”
Beyond entertainment districts, the fact that many downtown centers are now vibrant communities where people live as well as work is also adding to their appeal for meetings. In fact, many involved in downtown redevelopment say it’s the presence of local residents that keeps entertainment districts and other downtown areas from being little more than stage sets.
“Great cities have people living downtown,” Noonan says. “It’s crucial to the life of the city. When you come here, you know you won’t be the only guy on the sidewalk at night.”
In Los Angeles, where the first phase of the L.A. Live entertainment district opened next to the convention center in October, a burgeoning downtown population is proving to be a magnet for new restaurants, clubs and other attractions, according to Michael Krouse, senior vice president of LA Inc., the city’s CVB.
“What’s happening in our downtown is more than L.A. Live—a lot has to do with all the people that are moving downtown,” he says. “We’ve got 90,000 people here, a lot of them young professionals buying high-end condos. So it’s not just conventions that are demanding restaurants and nightlife, a lot of this is being driven by the residents.”
As a meeting planner, Breining says she appreciates the fact that cities are responding to the needs of local citizens as well as visitors.
“These [entertainment districts] are very good investments for cities to make,” she says. “A convention center is geared just for meetings, but an entertainment district benefits the local people, too. Everyone can enjoy it.”
Here is a look at a few of the major makeovers around the country:
Live in L.A.
Although it’s the nation’s second-most-populous city, a lackluster area surrounding its downtown convention center has long kept Los Angeles from its rightful status as a truly first-tier convention destination. All of that is about to change, however, as L.A. Live, a $2.5 billion, six-block mixed-use complex, opens in stages next to the Los Angeles Convention Center.
Already open is the 7,100-seat Nokia Theatre, which along with presenting headline entertainment is available for product launches and other special events. The adjacent Nokia Plaza is a 40,000-square-foot open-air space that includes an area for red-carpet events.
Scheduled for completion in October 2008, the second phase will usher in entertainment facilities that include Club Nokia, a live music venue accommodating up to 2,200 people for private parties; Conga Room, a venue for Latin music; Lucky Strike, a bowling center; and the Grammy Museum, a museum devoted to popular music that will include a rooftop terrace for special events. Dining outlets will include ESPN Zone, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse and a restaurant operated by celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck.
When the final phase is unveiled in early 2010, L.A. Live will also encompass a 1,001-room tower that will include Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott hotels along with 224 residences. The final phase will also bring a 14-theater cinema complex that will be available for corporate presentations.
According to LA Inc’s Krouse, the advent of L.A. Live has already had a profound impact on convention bookings, including 180 events booked into the Nokia Theatre alone. He says that associations that have never considered the city before are now booking multiple years.
“We’ve had an incredible response,” he says. “L.A. is now considered the hip, new West Coast destination for meetings. There is a hunger for an alternative to San Francisco, San Diego, Anaheim, even Vegas.”
While most significant for conventions, L.A. Live is only one of several transformation taking place downtown. Also in progress is the Grand Avenue Project, located across from the Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, which will include a Mandarin Oriental hotel, restaurants, retail stores, entertainment venues, and a 16-acre park. Also coming is the $1 billion Park Fifth, the tallest residential tower west of Chicago, which will include a 218-room hotel.
A New Waikiki
Once largely the domain of Japanese tour groups and budget travelers, Waikiki has been steadily moving upward in its appeal as a meetings destination for over a decade. With the Hawaii Convention Center serving as a catalyst, dozens of older hotels have been renovated and major improvements to signage, traffic flow and landscaping have been made.
By far the biggest transformation is the $585 million Waikiki Beach Walk, an area of restaurants, specialty shops, hotels, and entertainment venues that opened along Lewers Street late last year. Still to come is a luxury condo-hotel, Trump International Hotel & Tower Waikiki Beach Walk, opening in 2009.
Also under way is a major renovation of the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, which includes 310,000 square feet of new shops, restaurants and a nightclub/showroom presenting Waikiki Nei, a Cirque du Soleil-style show with a Hawaiian history theme. Work is expected to be complete in the first quarter of next year.
“We’re no longer just a beach destination, but a real Hawaiian experience,” says Les Enderton, executive director of the Oahu Visitors Bureau, about Waikiki. “The best shopping, the best cuisine is here. There’s a real depth of product.”
Hotel industry consultant Joseph Toy, president of Honolulu-based Hospitality Advisors, says the goal of repositioning Waikiki as a more upscale meetings and leisure travel destination is fast being realized.
“Waikiki Beach Walk and other improvements have really addressed the deterioration that we saw in Waikiki during the 1990s,” he says. “Waikiki Beach Walk is more than just a renovation—it’s a whole new product. We’re already seeing more visitors coming to Waikiki who otherwise might have bypassed it for the neighbor islands.”
Enderton adds that major projects such as Beach Walk and the Trump hotel are sparking upgrades throughout the entire district.
“With higher end properties coming in on a regular basis, it’s causing the smaller properties to ratchet things up a notch,” he says. “The one-star hotel is now the two-star hotel. So the choice of quality accommodations keeps growing and growing.”
As Waikiki has improved, so has meetings business, he adds.
“We have some good citywides on tap for the start of the next decade, and we’re also pleased with the number of corporate meetings coming to Oahu,” he says. “Meetings draw first-time visitors and that creates repeat visitors. It’s a great way to grow the high-end market.”
Up-to-Date in Kansas City
This fall is an exciting season for downtown Kansas City, Mo., with the October openings of the Sprint Center, an 18,500-seat arena for major entertainment and sports events, and the adjacent College Basketball Experience, which offers interactive exhibits and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
These new attractions are coming on the heels of a $150 million renovation of the Kansas City Convention Center, which sports a new 46,484-square-foot ballroom, and the expansion of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, now ranked as one of the nation’s top 10 art museums.
And there’s much more to come, particularly with the unveiling next March of the Power & Light District, nine of blocks of restaurants, shopping, entertainment venues, residences, and an outdoor concert and multiuse pavilion called Kansas City Live!
With amenities such as the Sprint Center and Power & Light District a short walk from the convention center, Hughes at the Kansas City CVB says the city’s fortunes as a meetings destination have already made a positive turn.
“Our bookings are up 40 percent this year and things look great for the future,” he says. “A real buzz has been created around the nation.”
Indy on the Fast Track
When it comes to cities that have made the most of their downtown attributes, Indianapolis is hard to beat, according to PKF Consulting’s Eble. He notes that things kicked off in a big way 23 years ago when the city brought in the Colts football team and unveiled the RCA Dome (then the Hoosier Dome) as an expansion to the Indiana Convention Center.
“Now they’re staying competitive by building a new dome,” he says. “Indianapolis is among a growing number of Midwestern cities that have been able to reposition themselves as tourist destinations.”
Construction on a new stadium, expected to open in August 2008, is under way and an expansion to the convention center will start next summer, following the demolition of the RCA Dome. When completed in fall 2010, the Indiana Convention Center, in combination with the new Lucas Oil Stadium, will offer nearly 750,000 square feet of exhibit space.
Connected to the center/stadium complex will be a new headquarters hotel, the 1,000-room JW Marriott Hotel, set for completion in March 2010. The property, which will be part of a complex that also includes three smaller Marriott-branded properties, will offer a 45,000-square-foot ballroom, the largest in the state.
Beyond a stronger hotel and convention center package, Indianapolis has been busy unveiling a host of new downtown attractions. Work is currently under way on the Indianapolis Cultural Trail, a 7.5-mile bike and pedestrian path linking the city’s prime sightseeing areas, with completion expected in 2009.
Cleveland Connection
Cleveland, which greatly strengthened its appeal as a downtown meetings destination in the 1990s with the opening of the lakefront Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, and the Great Lakes Science Center, is now focusing on the development of the University Arts and Retail District. The district, which encompasses housing, retail shops, restaurants, and clubs, is adjacent to University Circle, the city’s main hub for museums, performing arts and educational and medical facilities.
A major component of the plan is the $200 million Euclid Corridor project, which will link downtown Cleveland and University Circle with rapid transit. Along with a new transit system, the street is also getting a makeover with wider sidewalks and public art.
“Euclid Avenue will be a connection between our two entertainment districts,” says Chris Ronayne, president of University Circle Inc., the agency overseeing the development of the new district. “A convention delegate will be able to hop on a trolley downtown and be at University Circle in 10 or 15 minutes.”
Improvements are also happening within University Circle, including major expansions to the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, as well as a new Museum of Contemporary Art. Institutions such as Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Clinic are also expanding with new facilities.
According to Ronayne, the improvements reflect Cleveland’s transition from a manufacturing city to one where the economy is based on education, healthcare and arts and culture.
“Cleveland now has a chance for a second renaissance,” he says. “Older cities in the Northeast that were built on manufacturing are now looking for new identities and infrastructure.”
Raleigh’s Renaissance
While many cities have built convention centers first and then upgraded the areas around them, Raleigh, N.C., is getting a new convention center and a revitalized downtown all at once. Its new $215 million convention center, set for a September 2008 opening, is the centerpiece of some $1.3 billion worth of improvements and additions to downtown.
“Raleigh has been receiving accolades over the past few years as a great place to live and do business, but we’ve never been on the radar screen for meetings,” says Denny Edwards, president and CEO of the Greater Raleigh CVB. “Three or four years ago we saw the opportunity for meeting and convention business, so we’ve worked to get the right product together.”
The right product, he adds, goes beyond a new convention center and even a headquarters hotel—the 400-room Raleigh Marriott City Center opening next spring.
Raleigh’s downtown revitalization also includes 4,000 new condos, dozens of new restaurants and clubs, and a $10 million makeover for Fayette Street, a pedestrian mall since the 1970s, which is being opened up to vehicular traffic and embellished with stone sidewalks, trees, planters, and public artwork.
“You can find a convention center in just about every town these days, so the key is to produce all the other elements you need,” Edwards says. “Everyone wants easy access to off-site venues, shopping—you’ve got to have the right mix.”
Baltimore: Urban Pioneer
Downtown upgrades are nothing new for Baltimore, which embarked on the revitalization of its Inner Harbor back in the 1970s and hasn’t stopped making improvements since. Currently, the city has no less than $11 billion worth of developments going on, including the construction of a convention headquarters hotel, the 757-room Hilton Baltimore Convention Center, set for completion in August 2008.
The Hilton is part of an overall hotel building boom in Baltimore, which also includes a 200-room Four Seasons opening in 2009.
“We’ve got 2,000 hotel rooms under construction, with rumors that there could be as many as 1,500 more,” says the Baltimore CVA’s Noonan.
Baltimore has also invested millions of dollars in new things for visitors to see and do.
Two years ago the city unveiled a huge expansion of its National Aquarium, which was followed by the opening of the Sports Legends at Camden Yards, a museum dedicated to local sports heroes. Last year, Geppi’s Entertainment Museum, which focuses on the history of American pop culture, opened above Sports Legends.
