Downtown Crowne Plaza becoming Doubletree

[simms3]

^^^Arguably the worst major hotel market in the country. 

dude...enough!

Jax has more downtown hotel rooms than both Orlando and Tampa.

Having more rooms within an incongruous local definition for "downtown" doesn't really make a market "better".  My new firm is intimately involved in hotels, from brand creation & management to ground up development to complete repositioning/re-branding/flagging to simple ownership, and so I am learning a lot about hospitality.  It's definitely an interesting industry/business concept, when looking at an individual hotel, let alone a portfolio of hotels under one ownership or a market where several owners have 1 or more hotels.

With that said, the evidence that Jacksonville's hotel market is overbuilt for its own drivers and/or size is the fact that owners can't seem to keep flags or specific brands within those flags for very long, and the simple fact that so many prominent area hotels have foreclosed or had to be recapitalized x amount of times over the last decade or so.

ADR is dismal, with no growth.  Occupancy is dismal, with no growth.

I have consistently argued on MJ for years now that growing our convention/tourism business would be beneficial not only to the city and the business community, but also to the hospitality industry and owners in the area.

I would have used the $30M from the bed tax that went to NFL scoreboards for something related to CVB.  But that's just me.  Most cities view a bed tax as something to be used to pull in outsiders, not to make residents happy.  Which is why it's a "bed tax"...not a property tax.  It's a tax paid for by visitors, and should really be for visitors.  And bringing in more visitors and making them happy actually benefits residents, too.

[thelakelander]

Jacksonville's downtown hotel market being overbuilt is one of the reasons I believe if we're going to invest in a new convention center, it needs to be adjacent to the Hyatt. We have the land available next to a convention center style hotel that we've also subsidized.  Anyplace else is going to require a new hotel in an already overcrowded market, for it to be remotely competitive in the industry.

[simms3]

^^^Good point, something you've harped on for a while now.

[ProjectMaximus]

It wouldn't bother me to see them incorporated between main destinations. Parador garage to Landing / Suntrust / Omni, Other garages to Hayden Burns / Wells Fargo, etc. The weather can be quite brutal downtown.

It is believed that these walkways take pedestrians off the street and reduces street-level pedestrian activity. Don't know if that theory is 100% sound but it is the reason why urban planners have shied away from such design.

[simms3]

^^^John Portman's original intent for all of those skywalks was precisely that!  Original pictures of the interiors of Peachtree Center (all those buildings) indicated a lively, "futuristic" interior atmosphere.  But like the Jax Landing, that idea of keeping people inside did not work out so well.

Jax is *not* a city that needs those skywalks, like Minneapolis does.

Houston has all those underground walkways which effectively do the same thing.  Keeps retail "down there" and people off the streets.  Houston does *not* need those heated/cooled underground malls/paths like Toronto does.

[Noone]

^^^Arguably the worst major hotel market in the country. 

dude...enough!

Jax has more downtown hotel rooms than both Orlando and Tampa.

Having more rooms within an incongruous local definition for "downtown" doesn't really make a market "better".  My new firm is intimately involved in hotels, from brand creation & management to ground up development to complete repositioning/re-branding/flagging to simple ownership, and so I am learning a lot about hospitality.  It's definitely an interesting industry/business concept, when looking at an individual hotel, let alone a portfolio of hotels under one ownership or a market where several owners have 1 or more hotels.

With that said, the evidence that Jacksonville's hotel market is overbuilt for its own drivers and/or size is the fact that owners can't seem to keep flags or specific brands within those flags for very long, and the simple fact that so many prominent area hotels have foreclosed or had to be recapitalized x amount of times over the last decade or so.

ADR is dismal, with no growth.  Occupancy is dismal, with no growth.

I have consistently argued on MJ for years now that growing our convention/tourism business would be beneficial not only to the city and the business community, but also to the hospitality industry and owners in the area.

I would have used the $30M from the bed tax that went to NFL scoreboards for something related to CVB.  But that's just me.  Most cities view a bed tax as something to be used to pull in outsiders, not to make residents happy.  Which is why it's a "bed tax"...not a property tax.  It's a tax paid for by visitors, and should really be for visitors.  And bringing in more visitors and making them happy actually benefits residents, too.

+1

[spuwho]

Simply replace "conventions" with "sports events" and spending the bed tax money has the same result. Filling in hotel rooms for people coming in for sports, monster trucks, concerts, etc.

Many towns have convention centers, very few have NFL caliber sports venues that can be multi purposed.

[jaxjaguar]

Not to mention the Suns and Sharks are playoff caliber teams which have draw, albeit small. Based on the emails and conferences I've seen with the Jags recently they aren't joking about hosting events 300+ days out of the year. Expect to hear some good things in the coming weeks. I can say that the movie nights are a go and should be starting within a month. I imagine with all of the scoreboard hype people, will be coming from far and wide just for that. There are already 2 movies planned for the near future...

[coredumped]

I can say that the movie nights are a go and should be starting within a month. I imagine with all of the scoreboard hype people, will be coming from far and wide just for that. There are already 2 movies planned for the near future...

Can you say any more? I'm interesting in this, especially with the weather going to cool down soon.

[jaxjaguar]

The first one is scheduled for September 9th, but is limited to season ticket holders. There will be public ones after that, but the dates haven't been announced.

[IrvAdams]

I can certainly vouch for the fact that the visuals and sound (scoreboards, ribbon boards, improved speaker system) worked quite well for the Carrie Underwood concert. Really raises the entertainment value of the stadium as an open-air entertainment facility.

[johnnyliar]

The first one is scheduled for September 9th, but is limited to season ticket holders. There will be public ones after that, but the dates haven't been announced.

I'm a season ticket holder, but i haven't heard anything about this. Where can I find the info?

[jaxjaguar]

Check your email for the Jags365 Newsletters. It's listed under upcoming events.

[jaxjaguar]

Did anyone notice the new paint job is nearly complete. The building looks pretty slick now. Much better than just solid beige. It'll be even better looking when the new signage is up!

[Jason]

Can't wait to see it!

Anyone have a cell photo they can share?