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September 18, 2008
Convention center hotel proposal scuttled
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
by Jeremy Boren
The wait for a second hotel attached to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center is about to get longer.
The city-county Sports & Exhibition Authority is ending its long-running negotiations with hotel operator Forest City Enterprises over the building of a hotel that would boost the number of rooms near the convention center beyond 1,000 -- the magic number tourism experts say is needed to attract large, lucrative conventions to Pittsburgh.
Forest City wanted to build a hotel of about 300 rooms, but the authority and visitors bureau VisitPittsburgh want at least 500 rooms to pair with the 616 rooms in the Westin Hotel.
...Brian Ratner, president of East Coast development for Forest City, declined to comment on whether the company would submit another proposal for the hotel.
Conturo said the cost of the hotel will be higher than the original $103 million price tag and will rely on a $34 million subsidy the state Legislature approved last year. The money comes from a slice of Pennsylvania's 55 percent tax on casino gambling.
Ratner said Forest City proposed scaling down the size of the hotel to fit the state subsidy available and combat construction costs that have increased since 2001.
"There's a certain amount of money that's available, and you have to fit the budget that's there," Ratner said, adding that he doubts the state Legislature would approve additional funding for the project.
NoLandGrab: Is this company — or its subsidiary Forest City Ratner — ever willing to risk its own money on a project? [That's a rhetorical question.]
Posted by eric at September 18, 2008 1:20 PM