The Savannah International Trade and Convention Center announced plans for a new 500-room convention hotel.
“With vision from 1990, downtown Savannah was extended onto Hutchinson Island,” said Mark Smith, chairman of the Georgia International and Maritime Trade Center Authority. “And now we'll take that vision into the next 20 years.”
The authority wants to add a convention center hotel that would include more than 40,000 square feet of meeting space, full banquet facilities and on-site parking for 75 percent of rooms. The authority said the project will spur further development: an extension to the riverwalk, a passenger intermodal facility to connect visitors to water ferry and ground transportation and several sites for public facilities and attractions.
The authority said feedback from meeting planners showed they wanted 70 percent of convention rooms next to the venue. For larger conferences, the only hotel on island didn’t have enough rooms.
