Adaptive reuse, the hottest trend in urban redevelopment, is proving to be a boon for meetings. No longer needed for their original purpose, historic structures ranging from department stores to banks and military bases are being reinvented these days as hotels, venues and visitor attractions.
The Nines
For nearly all of the 20th century, the Meier & Frank department store was a central fixture in downtown Portland, Ore., serving as the flagship store for what once was the largest retailer west of the Mississippi. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the 1909 structure is considered to be a prime example of early 20th century terra cotta architecture.
While the bottom five floors of the building are still a department store—Macy's at Meier & Frank Square—the upper floors have been converted to a 311-room hotel that is part of the Starwood Luxury Collection. The Nines, which opened in 2008 and received LEED silver certification last year, offers 14,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 7,200-square-foot ballroom.
While the conversion to hotel space was a big undertaking that included the creation of a seven-story atrium, The Nines pays homage to the building's past and its significance to the local community, according to Laura Van Daal, director of sales.
"We have a fantastic art collection of 419 works, including sculpture and art installations, that were commissioned for the building. They're by well-known artists connected to Portland who were inspired by the building and its history," she says. "We've got a portrait of Clark Gable, who sold ties at the store back in 1922."
Van Daal says the name of the hotel was inspired by the fact that Portlanders would "dress to the nines" when they came to shop or dine at the elegant department store.
"We like to think that we're still the place to go," she says.
The Bently Reserve Conference Center
A stately neoclassical temple of a building that served as the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco for nearly 60 years, the Bently Reserve Conference Center is now a palatial event venue in the heart of San Francisco's Financial District. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the restored 1924 building is LEED certified, equipped with state-of-the-art videoconferencing and audiovisual technology, and adaptable for a wide variety of business and social gatherings.
"We can do everything from a 10-person meeting on up to a trade show or elegant dinner," says Vivian Perez, event sales manager.
The centerpiece of the Bently Reserve is the Banking Hall, resplendent with a bronze and marble stairway, chandeliers, Ionic columns and breakout space that includes an outdoor terrace and mezzanine floor. The space accommodates up to 350 for a seated event or up to 850 for a reception.
"We've done a lot of product launches in the Banking Hall—high-tech companies love to use it," Perez says. "For example, General Electric recently introduced products across all of their divisions, everything from airplane engines to wind turbines."
For smaller groups, upper floors of the Bently contain nautically themed conference rooms such as the Apollo and Euphemia, named for sailing ships hearkening back to San Francisco's 19th century "Barbary Coast" past.
Almost a city within a city, San Diego's Liberty Station is a new waterfront community with hotels, shops, meeting venues and park areas on the site of the Naval Training Center, which closed in 1997. Dating from the 1920s and on the National Register of Historic Places, the training center's original Spanish-style buildings have been restored and now house galleries, museums and performing arts groups.
"We retained the historic structures, but demolished barracks and other later buildings that didn't match the theme," says Joe Haeussler, senior vice president of Cork McMillin Co., which oversees development at Liberty Station. "We also created modern infrastructure such as hotels, office buildings and sidewalks."
Elements of Liberty Station include two hotels, a Courtyard by Marriott and a Homewood Suites by Hilton; a conference center; a historic chapel available for weddings, concerts and other events; residential areas; a golf course and a 46-acre park with jogging and walking trails. Long-term plans call for a resort hotel.
"Liberty Station can handle a wide variety of events, in both indoor and outdoor locations, including a waterfront park and a landscaped promenade," Haeussler says. "Nissan just had a big event here to showcase a new electric vehicle."
