Proposal: Downtown Convention Center

[victory]

11 hours ago, gman430 said:

Yes: https://www.scartsandeventscenter.com/gallery I’m more sure more and better quality ones will be added in the future. 

Thank you, sir.

[gman430]

Well, this isn’t good: 

https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/gov-mcmaster-asks-legislators-not-to-create-a-new-state-spending-plan-amid-uncertainty/article_0c22e150-e316-11ea-9770-133dec6cdaee.html

Edited August 21, 2020 by gman430

[cabelagent]

18 hours ago, gman430 said:

Well, this isn’t good: 

https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/gov-mcmaster-asks-legislators-not-to-create-a-new-state-spending-plan-amid-uncertainty/article_0c22e150-e316-11ea-9770-133dec6cdaee.html

Hope I'm wrong...don't expect a shovel turned on this for several years due to uncertainty related to pandemic & financial bumps as this. It'll happen eventually...

Edited August 21, 2020 by cabelagent

[apaladin]

17 minutes ago, cabelagent said:

Hope I'm wrong...don't expect a shovel turned on this for several years due to uncertainty related to pandemic & financial bumps as this. It'll happen eventually...

Agree.  Another problem is the current building supply shortage. IF you can find what you need the prices are up about 30-40 percent. Then after the election the economy is likely to go in the tank and all construction will come to a screeching halt. 

[SVL]

40 minutes ago, apaladin said:

Agree.  Another problem is the current building supply shortage. IF you can find what you need the prices are up about 30-40 percent. Then after the election the economy is likely to go in the tank and all construction will come to a screeching halt. 

Why will the economy go in the tank after the election?

[vicupstate]

Construction will slow in the near future because the pipeline is not getting filled  since the pandemic started.

[apaladin]

1 hour ago, SVL said:

Why will the economy go in the tank after the election?

If Biden is elected(likely) he has said he would raise the corporate tax rate back to 28% from the current 21%. That’s a game changer and will stifle growth/investing/building.

[johnpro318]

1 hour ago, apaladin said:

If Biden is elected(likely) he has said he would raise the corporate tax rate back to 28% from the current 21%. That’s a game changer and will stifle growth/investing/building.

Lol this makes no sense since the corporate tax rate was in the 30s for many decades while we were having boom years. There's not much growth in many industries now, even with the low rate.

[gman]

11 hours ago, apaladin said:

Agree.  Another problem is the current building supply shortage. IF you can find what you need the prices are up about 30-40 percent. Then after the election the economy is likely to go in the tank and all construction will come to a screeching halt. 

LOL. Remember, Trump shut down the economy due to his complete failure on handling the virus. After the election, it will take a year or more for the new administration to get us back on track. We will be back in a couple of years. For that reason, I hope city officials will continue to move forward with construction of the beautiful and much needed project. 

Edited August 22, 2020 by gman

[vicupstate]

11 hours ago, apaladin said:

If Biden is elected(likely) he has said he would raise the corporate tax rate back to 28% from the current 21%. That’s a game changer and will stifle growth/investing/building.

28% is what it was when we had the longest economic expansion in history.  Clinton raised taxes and had a great economy. A million variables determine the economy, taxes being only one.  Inflation might actually be the bigger risk for the next few years. 

[cabelagent]

6 hours ago, vicupstate said:

28% is what it was when we had the longest economic expansion in history.  Clinton raised taxes and had a great economy. A million variables determine the economy, taxes being only one.  Inflation might actually be the bigger risk for the next few years. 

We need to get politics out of this...it’s pointless, divisive, & off topic.  

Edited August 22, 2020 by cabelagent

[GVLover]

9 hours ago, cabelagent said:

We need to get politics out of this...it’s pointless, divisive, & off topic.  

Economics shouldn’t be divisive. Irregardless of who is elected, the economy is a mess and needs to be completely overhauled to fit the realities of both accelerated AI development displacing people + climate change. Neither candidate is up for the challenges ahead, so it is important to understand the economic reality over these next few decades. 

Edited August 23, 2020 by GVLover

[cabelagent]

1 hour ago, GVLover said:

Economics shouldn’t be divisive. Irregardless of who is elected, the economy is a mess and needs to be completely overhauled to fit the realities of both accelerated AI development displacing people + climate change. Neither candidate is up for the challenges ahead, so it is important to understand the economic reality over these next few decades. 

Greenville region is most fortunate that it hasn’t  experienced serious economic issues from the pandemic. Small businesses have unfortunately and some retail have suffered more. Most all the  new downtown projects will be completed as planned...not that they would have anyway.  The national economy will be timid & unpredictable with whoever is President. I believe one candidate is better prepared to meet the challenges & return it back to where it was before the pandemic...attempting to be unpolitical 
 

Edited August 23, 2020 by cabelagent

[gman430]

https://upstatebusinessjournal.com/business-news/the-city-of-greenville-is-accepting-proposals-for-a-new-downtown-conference-facility/

[gvegascple]

On 8/27/2020 at 5:52 PM, gman430 said:

https://upstatebusinessjournal.com/business-news/the-city-of-greenville-is-accepting-proposals-for-a-new-downtown-conference-facility/

Does this mean that the old plans are scrapped? 

[vicupstate]

3 minutes ago, gvegascple said:

Does this mean that the old plans are scrapped? 

No. Not at all. It is the RPF to have the plans submitted for public approval.  

[gvegascple]

7 minutes ago, vicupstate said:

No. Not at all. It is the RPF to have the plans submitted for public approval.  

Whew! Thanks for the update.  I for the most part liked where we where going on this.

[gman430]

Well, this should help if it goes towards the state budget: https://www.foxcarolina.com/news/south-carolina-receives-600-million-in-settlement-with-federal-government/article_cac00be6-eba0-11ea-ad36-2ff48179b586.html ALL $600 million will be given to the state immediately. 

Edited August 31, 2020 by gman430

[gman430]

Urgency builds to get downtown convention center built and more quickly than originally proposed due to Covid-19: https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/greenville/downtown/2020/10/01/covid-raises-urgency-conference-center-downtown-greenville-hotels-sc/5769350002/

Greenville Mayor Knox White said COVID-19 makes the conference center project even more imperative, as it will be a potential way to drive business downtown.  “The impetus is there for us to move it along more quickly," he said. “The conference center is a very important and strategic part of the plan."

Edited October 1, 2020 by gman430

[distortedlogic]

23 hours ago, gman430 said:

Urgency builds to get downtown convention center built and more quickly than originally proposed due to Covid-19: https://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/local/greenville/downtown/2020/10/01/covid-raises-urgency-conference-center-downtown-greenville-hotels-sc/5769350002/

Greenville Mayor Knox White said COVID-19 makes the conference center project even more imperative, as it will be a potential way to drive business downtown.  “The impetus is there for us to move it along more quickly," he said. “The conference center is a very important and strategic part of the plan."

Anymore details you can give? This one is for subscribers only.

[GVLer]

The concern is having numerous downtown hotels default due to vacancy rate. While COVID is causing havoc for hotel operators everywhere, there was concern GVL was already overbuilt on hotel rooms downtown. Yesterday I heard a large scale hotel operator say on Fox Biz channel that this may be the worst economic period for hotels in history. 

[gman430]

2 hours ago, distortedlogic said:

Anymore details you can give? This one is for subscribers only.

Basically how there’s between a huge increase in the number of hotel rooms getting built downtown over the past decade and how Covid-19 is causing havoc with the occupancy rates here and around the world. They want to get the convention center built to help offset the occupancy rate losses. Personally, I think wants the convention center gets built which is still a minimum of several years out Covid-19 will either have a vaccine or people will have adjusted to this new way of living by then. 

Auro Hotels seemed a lot more positive in the article than Windor Aughtry. Auro stated that occupancy rates have gone back up over the past few weeks and continue to do so at their properties with no big issues happening while Windsor Aughtry is still concerned with the low numbers and thinks some hotel operators might have to dip into their maintenance reserve fund to stay afloat. 

 

“A key indicator of a hotel's profitability is the revenue it generates per available room (or RevPAR). 

That metric has been in decline since 2015 for downtown Greenville hotels, including a 55% plummet so far this year compared to last, according to data from STR, a firm that specializes in hospitality data and analytics. 

Hotel occupancy rates in downtown have declined since 2017  but were still above 70% last year, about five points higher than the national average, according to STR.

Downtown Greenville had five hotel properties and 860 rooms in 2014, according to STR.

By 2015, there were six hotels and 1,000 rooms.

By 2018, there were 13 hotels and 1,900 rooms.

When the AC Hotel and Grand Bohemian open over the next couple years, downtown will have about 2,300 hotel rooms.”

Edited October 2, 2020 by gman430

[GvilleSC]

Nearly tripling the number of rooms in the course of about 7 years is pretty remarkable. 

[distortedlogic]

5 hours ago, GvilleSC said:

Nearly tripling the number of rooms in the course of about 7 years is pretty remarkable. 

Indeed. Pretty insane to think about, and yet, those rooms were getting absorbed pretty well. This year's numbers are meaningless in terms of what it means going forward, or in terms of whether or not the rooms have the potential to be filled post covid. It certainly matters financially for the hotels, and the question is can they survive this? But if they can hold on, I would think they will be back to precovid levels (or close) within a couple years. 

7 hours ago, gman430 said:

Basically how there’s between a huge increase in the number of hotel rooms getting built downtown over the past decade and how Covid-19 is causing havoc with the occupancy rates here and around the world. They want to get the convention center built to help offset the occupancy rate losses. Personally, I think wants the convention center gets built which is still a minimum of several years out Covid-19 will either have a vaccine or people will have adjusted to this new way of living by then. 

Auro Hotels seemed a lot more positive in the article than Windor Aughtry. Auro stated that occupancy rates have gone back up over the past few weeks and continue to do so at their properties with no big issues happening while Windsor Aughtry is still concerned with the low numbers and thinks some hotel operators might have to dip into their maintenance reserve fund to stay afloat. 

 

“A key indicator of a hotel's profitability is the revenue it generates per available room (or RevPAR). 

That metric has been in decline since 2015 for downtown Greenville hotels, including a 55% plummet so far this year compared to last, according to data from STR, a firm that specializes in hospitality data and analytics. 

Hotel occupancy rates in downtown have declined since 2017  but were still above 70% last year, about five points higher than the national average, according to STR.

Downtown Greenville had five hotel properties and 860 rooms in 2014, according to STR.

By 2015, there were six hotels and 1,000 rooms.

By 2018, there were 13 hotels and 1,900 rooms.

When the AC Hotel and Grand Bohemian open over the next couple years, downtown will have about 2,300 hotel rooms.”

Thanks gman. So I guess they are talking about building the conference and museum part without building the hotel part, with the ability to add the hotel part down the road when needed?

[gman430]

22 minutes ago, distortedlogic said:

Thanks gman. So I guess they are talking about building the conference and museum part without building the hotel part, with the ability to add the hotel part down the road when needed?

The article unfortunately didn’t say either way about the proposed Embassy Suites expansion. My guess is that it’s still planned to get built at the same time as the rest of the project but that’s just a guess.

Edited October 3, 2020 by gman430