Hotel Hotel Hotel

[comncense]

I'd like to see one of the ALoft Hotels downtown that also serves as a place of interest to visit. A friend was telling me this past Saturday that the one out by the airport has some kind of event that they hold on Saturdays that sounds pretty interesting. There was just no way that I was driving all the way out to the airport for that. The Hotel Indigo out by Tinseltown is nice too. Both of those would be nice to have downtown.

[duvaldude08]

I'd like to see one of the ALoft Hotels downtown that also serves as a place of interest to visit. A friend was telling me this past Saturday that the one out by the airport has some kind of event that they hold on Saturdays that sounds pretty interesting. There was just no way that I was driving all the way out to the airport for that. The Hotel Indigo out by Tinseltown is nice too. Both of those would be nice to have downtown.

Yeah those would be great. I just stayed at Hyatt place in Lake Mary, and those are also great! Another Hyatt brand dowtown would be nice.

[OhJay]

Another factor to consider (for now) is that it's extremely easy to drive to Jaguar games, and both easy and very pleasant to take the water taxi to the game.  Many out-of-towners choose the water taxi.  When Sports Illustrated ran a detailed survey of each NFL team's gameday experiences a couple of years ago, there were a ton of raves about the taxi.  If most out-of-towners want to stay in the heart of downtown (or on the Southbank) and commute to the game that way, it's not going to create any sort of market for a hotel near the stadium.  And that's not a bad thing, I don't think, because a big part of getting the flavor of Jacksonville is spending time in the core and on the river.  That should be an essential part of every visitor's experience.

True although putting a nearby hotel on the river would benefit the both the hotel and the river taxi...having a post/stop at the hotel taking the people to a stop leading to the stadium would be something that everyone would enjoy...it may not be a BIG thing right away but it can progress into drawing other top hotel to get into the riverfront business

[duvaldude08]

Since the majority are aganist more hotels downtown, I guess there is no demand for the Bank Hotel either? Just a thought.........

[Wacca Pilatka]

Since the majority is aganist more hotels downtown, I guess there is no demand for the Bank Hotel either? Just a thought.........

I don't think that's what anyone's saying...it's not what I'm saying, anyway.  I meant to say that I think most visitors to Jacksonville would rather stay downtown than in the sports district. 

[duvaldude08]

Since the majority is aganist more hotels downtown, I guess there is no demand for the Bank Hotel either? Just a thought.........

I don't think that's what anyone's saying...it's not what I'm saying, anyway.  I meant to say that I think most visitors to Jacksonville would rather stay downtown than in the sports district. 

Ok.. I see Bay street and the "Core" as the same thing. It is to me anyways. Probably not in the technical manner, but I consider all of that downtown. Thats just the way I view it.

[Captain Zissou]

Since the majority is aganist more hotels downtown, I guess there is no demand for the Bank Hotel either? Just a thought.........

Not downtown, just the sports district.  There has been little private development in the sports district over the past decade, despite extensive investment by the city.  This would indicate that there is little demand for a hotel.  On the other hand, the core has had tons of activity as of late.  The Laura trio is capitalizing on this movement while adding to the downtown scene. The Bank hotel will also be a destination itself, which will draw patrons on its own.  There is not a ton of demand for added hotel space in the core, but the Bank Hotel will fill a niche market that had not, up to this point, been satisfied.  

Another hotel like the Bank Hotel, would probably be superfluous in the core.  

[OhJay]

but how can a downtown thrive without enough hotel space to accommodate the visitors

[Captain Zissou]

Downtown's aren't built around visitors, they're based around residents.  Vegas is probably the only downtown in America that draws the majority of its revenue from people who do not reside within its MSA.  You cannot depend on a constant influx of tourists to supply your downtown with business.  Without permanent residents or at least daytime workers, a downtown will fail.

[OhJay]

Downtown's aren't built around visitors, they're based around residents.  Vegas is probably the only downtown in America that draws the majority of its revenue from people who do not reside within its MSA.  You cannot depend on a constant influx of tourists to supply your downtown with business.  Without permanent residents or at least daytime workers, a downtown will fail.

true true...but with that being said...its florida people like the weather...especially when the sports start to roll around...when teams travel to play our teams they usually bring alot of fans with them and the fans dnt want to stay out jtb or airport they want to stay near the venue...thats where the hotel space roll in...all im sayin is seasonal hotel space is a big factor when big events or big games happen...

[Wacca Pilatka]

Also, Jacksonville has an unfortunate history of building isolated major projects too far apart to create any synergy.  E.g., the lack of private development in the sports district that Captain Zissou cites, and choosing an isolated spot for the convention center.  What's going on now with the Landing and Laura/Bay developments makes sense and has the opportunity to create a chain reaction of concentrated activity that may eventually spread outward to the sports district and what's left of LaVilla.  Right now there is little chance that a hotel developer will build in the sports district with few (and isolated) restaurants, virtually no retail, and a guaranteed demand for visitors in the immediate area on at best 8 Jaguar weekends per year plus special events like the NCAA tournament or American Idol tryouts.  As opposed to the much better prospects for a development like the Bank Hotel, in the heart of the core and with proximity to the Landing, museums, the major office towers, et al.

[duvaldude08]

Also, Jacksonville has an unfortunate history of building isolated major projects too far apart to create any synergy.  E.g., the lack of private development in the sports district that Captain Zissou cites, and choosing an isolated spot for the convention center.  What's going on now with the Landing and Laura/Bay developments makes sense and has the opportunity to create a chain reaction of concentrated activity that may eventually spread outward to the sports district and what's left of LaVilla.  Right now there is little chance that a hotel developer will build in the sports district with few (and isolated) restaurants, virtually no retail, and a guaranteed demand for visitors in the immediate area on at best 8 Jaguar weekends per year plus special events like the NCAA tournament or American Idol tryouts.  As opposed to the much better prospects for a development like the Bank Hotel, in the heart of the core and with proximity to the Landing, museums, the major office towers, et al.

I can agree with that. I still think its a good idea, but maybe not right now. There is little activity out that way. Maybe once bay street gains a little more momentum, and perhaps a NEW covention is built on the old courthouse site, then that would the perfect time to move forward with more hotels in that area. That's makes sense.

[comncense]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that there's not that many people rushing to stay in Jacksonville even during sporting events. Maybe once every 3 years we'll get lucky and get the Packers or Steelers on our schedule but despite how those teams' fans are known to travel, they won't bring THAT many people into the city. Even though we have the Florida / Georgia games, Gator Bowl and NCAA tourneys, that still leaves a large gap of time without crowds of tourists centered around the downtown area. I think we have to come to a decision as to what we are going to do about our convention center, solve the issue with the Landing and then maybe try to market Jacksonville and bring some sizable conferences into the city before we can justify multiple additional hotels downtown. I think as it is right now, out of towners will jump at staying somewhere near the beaches or town center area before they consider staying downtown. At the end of the day, there's nothing wrong with thinking ahead. Hopefully in the near future there will be a good reason as to why we NEED more hotels in the downtown area. Just my 2 cents...

[Timkin]

I was thinking.....and this may have nothing to do with the topic....If the need for another Hotel downtown were there, why not demolish / replace the Hotel where the Parkview Inn is now? It is fairly close to the Stadium..  I'm thinking if another Hotel were needed, that the Owner/ Investors would have revived this property with that in mind.   Riverfront of course, would be choice.  I tend to agree that until we can bring the masses back into the downtown, we probably do not have the need at this point.

[heights unknown]

I was thinking.....and this may have nothing to do with the topic....If the need for another Hotel downtown were there, why not demolish / replace the Hotel where the Parkview Inn is now? It is fairly close to the Stadium..  I'm thinking if another Hotel were needed, that the Owner/ Investors would have revived this property with that in mind.   Riverfront of course, would be choice.  I tend to agree that until we can bring the masses back into the downtown, we probably do not have the need at this point.

Environmental concerns, hazardous waste concerns, poisonous and tainted soil, ground, and the area surrounding it.

"HU"