Baltimore taxpayers
might fund this
$290 million Hilton.
In late November 2004, the
Baltimore Development Corp. announced a $290 million plan to build
a 100 percent publicly funded 750-room Hilton next to the
underperforming Baltimore Convention Center. Some critics were
quick to argue against its feasibility. n n
“We’ve found that we’re at a competitive disadvantage in
trying to attract conventions to our center, because we lack a
headquarters hotel,” said Irene Van Sant, project director for the
BDC.
The city lost an estimated 122,000 room nights due to the lack
of a headquarters property, according to Debra Dignan, associate
vice president of convention sales for the Baltimore Area
Convention and Visitors Association.
However, critics noted, in cities such as St. Louis; Myrtle
Beach, S.C.; Overland Park, Kan., and Sacramento, Calif., publicly
funded headquarters hotels have failed to attract significant
numbers of new conventions or earn enough to cover their debt
payments.
“These investments are shaped by a desire to sustain investment
and activity levels, not by actual demand for convention center
space or headquarters hotel rooms,” said Heywood Sanders, professor
with the Department of Public Administration at the University of
Texas at San Antonio.
Thomas Hazinski, managing director of Chicago-based HVS
International Convention, Sports & Entertainment Facilities,
summed up by noting, “The presence of a headquarters hotel is
thought to improve the center’s performance, but it’s not a
panacea.”