WHY SHOULD CHATHAM COUNTY BACK THE NEW TRADE CENTER EXPANSION & PRIVATE HOTEL?

The following is a press release by Carriage Trade PR to help sway public opinion toward the proposed convention center and hotel.

WHY SHOULD CHATHAM COUNTY BACK THE NEW TRADE CENTER EXPANSION & PRIVATE HOTEL?

Now that the press release is out, get ready for public interest and image building, customer relationship building, press kits (if people still do that), talking points, by-lined articles, special events, etc.

It all makes a good argument for the constuction project and I hope Savannah eventually gets one. Eventually being the key word.

Convention centers have been popping up around the country in the last decade and Charles Pinkham, III, the VP of Portman Holdings, told Hotel Interactive he expects RFPs to increase, but only with public backing. The article title, if you click the link, asks "Will the convention center hotel market heat up?" But the article doesn't answer the question. Portman relates the bromides that the convention center business continues to grow, conventions help people meet other people, and there's a demand for these new centers.

Pinkham says, "Cities continue to expand convention centers. They need the rooms tower adjacent so they can bring people in and give them one place to stay. There’s a lot of synergy between those two products. The hotels supply convention centers with additional meeting space, so it almost acts as one cohesive unit. This does well for the city because the conventions bring the hotel business and the hotels bring the conventions business.”

But why are cities expanding convention centers? Are they building these things because demand for conventions necessitates construction? Or are cities building them because they're told they need them and then promised lots of goodies (new jobs during and after construction, spin-off jobs, tax revenue, tourist $$, public improvements, etc...)

It's the same argument used by counties to build schools, by Greensboro, NC to build the Coliseum or WMATA to expand metro service. The argument can be valid. But it's also the same argument that Shell told Nigeria, the Webb Company told Lexington, Kentucky and casinos told Kansas.

The important issue is not that public money will be used to build it. Public money is often a pre-requisite to construction. (Think projects in Nashville, Phoenix, Portland, Overland Park, etc.)

We just need to be sure we don't create a financial problem here in Savannah like they did in Baltimore.

A. Joseph Marshall
Commercial Real Estate Agent
Savannah, Ga.