Every few years, talk surfaces about building a giant hotel next to the Minneapolis Convention Center -- and this year is no exception.
Hennepin County has hired a local firm, Nelson, Tietz & Hoye Inc., to study the feasibility of building a 1,000-room hotel on the 2.6-acre site that is now home to the Century Plaza office building at 330 S. 12th St. If built, the hotel would usurp the nearby Hilton Minneapolis, which has 821 rooms, as the largest hotel in the downtown core.
The county-owned Century Plaza building, where about 600 people work in various human services functions, is across from the Convention Center and has long been eyed as a possible site for a hotel. Previous studies have estimated that such a project's cost could top $300 million.
"The study will help us determine the best use of the property, and offer us some guidance for the site," said Hennepin County Administrator Richard Johnson.
For the time being, the study will solely assess redeveloping the 2.6-acre parcel into a hotel. "That, at least on the face of it, appears to be the best use of it," Johnson said. The county allocated $48,000 for the study.
"It appears to be an excellent location for a convention hotel, if there's a demand for it," said Russ Nelson, principal and president of Minneapolis-based Nelson, Tietz & Hoye.
Can it be financed?
But Kirby Payne, a consultant with Rhode Island-based HVS Hotel Management, said an uncertain economy still makes it difficult for developers to line up financing for new hotel projects. He also noted that major hotel brands with the financial wherewithal to participate in such a large project -- including Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott and Radisson -- already are well represented in the downtown market. "It wouldn't be an easy deal to do," he said.
