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Agreed, 200 room hotel is underwhelming. Hopefully it spurs more interest from other developers who may have had their eyes on this opportunity.
It sucks that with Columbia's lack of tax base and big bones which encompasses a dilapidated Finley Park, riverfront properties and trails, Bull street and anything else that needs city funding, is stretching the coffers really thin. Having to shelve different plans, especially the conference center expansion, is frustrating. They mention it in the article that city leaders don't have this on the forefront of their "to-do" list. I really wish it was.
Yes, true, but do you remember when the NCAA started considering SC for Tournament events in 2015 and decided that Columbia didn't have enough hotel rooms to host men's games? Greenville won the South Regional from Greensboro in 2017 after NC started pushing HB2, in part because GSP had far more hotel rooms. Of course Cola got the women's regional this year, but I suspect Cola will be able to pitch for men's and women's now with all of the new hotel rooms that have been built in the last few years. Anything is a win at this point, even if it's not what we'd like.
Yes, true, but do you remember when the NCAA started considering SC for Tournament events in 2015 and decided that Columbia didn't have enough hotel rooms to host men's games? Greenville won the South Regional from Greensboro in 2017 after NC started pushing HB2, in part because GSP had far more hotel rooms. Of course Cola got the women's regional this year, but I suspect Cola will be able to pitch for men's and women's now with all of the new hotel rooms that have been built in the last few years. Anything is a win at this point, even if it's not what we'd like.
I do. That’s a good perspective to have although do we meet the minimum amount of full service hotels that the NCAA wants to host a mens tournament? Or was it total rooms?
I do. That’s a good perspective to have although do we meet the minimum amount of full service hotels that the NCAA wants to host a mens tournament? Or was it total rooms?
I'm not 100% sure, to be fair I think it was a combo and we lacked both.
It's not a clear answer since it was for the Final 4, but here's the breakdown of the requirement Indianapolis had to meet to host:
"Five hotels accounting for more than 2,800 rooms—the JW Marriott, the Marriott Downtown, the Westin, the Hyatt Regency and Le Meridien—have already been blocked out by the Indianapolis-based NCAA for use by the 68 teams that will participate in the tournament, which is set to tip off in mid-March and run through the first weekend in April.
The hotels, classified as Tier I by the organization, account for about 37% of the rooms in the downtown market. At least 2,500 of those rooms will be part of the heavily controlled environment for student athletes, coaches and support personnel. Each of the hotels is connected to the Indiana Convention Center (where practices will be held) as well as Lucas Oil Stadium.
Thousands more rooms will be reserved for what the NCAA considers Tier II participants, including family members of the teams, event staff, and broadcast teams and media, according to an industry source..
The source, who is aware of the NCAA’s plans, told IBJ that nearly all of downtown’s nearly 7,600 hotel rooms could be used for the event, as well as additional hotels in other parts of the city."
If you assume that a region needs 1/4 of that capacity, then the requirement would be around 700 Tier I and maybe 2,500 Tier II. There are only a few Tier I hotels in Cola- the Hilton, Marriott, and Sheraton with a collective 650ish rooms. As of 2019 there were only a little over 1,600 rooms that would be considered Tier II, but that number has undoubtedly grown by at least a few hundred.
I'm not 100% sure, to be fair I think it was a combo and we lacked both.
It's not a clear answer since it was for the Final 4, but here's the breakdown of the requirement Indianapolis had to meet to host:
"Five hotels accounting for more than 2,800 rooms—the JW Marriott, the Marriott Downtown, the Westin, the Hyatt Regency and Le Meridien—have already been blocked out by the Indianapolis-based NCAA for use by the 68 teams that will participate in the tournament, which is set to tip off in mid-March and run through the first weekend in April.
The hotels, classified as Tier I by the organization, account for about 37% of the rooms in the downtown market. At least 2,500 of those rooms will be part of the heavily controlled environment for student athletes, coaches and support personnel. Each of the hotels is connected to the Indiana Convention Center (where practices will be held) as well as Lucas Oil Stadium.
Thousands more rooms will be reserved for what the NCAA considers Tier II participants, including family members of the teams, event staff, and broadcast teams and media, according to an industry source..
The source, who is aware of the NCAA’s plans, told IBJ that nearly all of downtown’s nearly 7,600 hotel rooms could be used for the event, as well as additional hotels in other parts of the city."
If you assume that a region needs 1/4 of that capacity, then the requirement would be around 700 Tier I and maybe 2,500 Tier II. There are only a few Tier I hotels in Cola- the Hilton, Marriott, and Sheraton with a collective 650ish rooms. As of 2019 there were only a little over 1,600 rooms that would be considered Tier II, but that number has undoubtedly grown by at least a few hundred.
Definitely more work to do, but again, everything is progress.
Nevermind, here are the requirements for the women's tourney on page 24:
1 hotel with 24 rooms and 800-1000 sq. ft. of meeting room space
8 hotels with 66 rooms and 2 meeting rooms of 800-1000 sq. ft. each
The Hilton, Sheraton, Marriott, Holiday Inn, Hyatt Place, Cambria, Graduate, Courtyard, Doubletree (not the Aloft or Home2 sadly) all qualify, if only barely in a few cases. A few more hotels would help and I'm sure there are some additional requirements for the men's tourney.
Personally, I feel like since it’s the convention center, it should be at least 400 rooms. But that’s just me I suppose… feels like a shame compared to the Arnold Plan.
I went to the Convention Center Recently for Soda City Comic Con and Yeah before going it didn't feel small but now after going many many times over and visiting other Cities for Anime, Furry and Comic Cons Our's is pathetic is size. its just a Small L Shaped building you can literally see both sides from one corner. that's not a Convention Center that's just a large Conference room.
It needs expansion bad. Theres so many big events that skip Columbia for other cities just because we literally cant host anything bigger. Soda City Comic Con is already almost using the whole building at this point and it's only getting bigger where is Soda City supposed to go at that point? our con space is too small for this.
Also in that article they were talking about a developer who is proposing a development at the Kline Site again. let's hope it actually works out this time. ince we have that new hotel about to pop up across the street from it at the McDonalds spot soon
As one that does not read all posts, I am repeating an old one of mine:
I have posted this before. I know of one state wide, professional society that use to use Columbia for their State Convention but they out grew the convention center and now hold it in Myrtle Beach. They would love to return to Columbia as it ic central to their members.
I went to the Convention Center Recently for Soda City Comic Con and Yeah before going it didn't feel small but now after going many many times over and visiting other Cities for Anime, Furry and Comic Cons Our's is pathetic is size. its just a Small L Shaped building you can literally see both sides from one corner. that's not a Convention Center that's just a large Conference room.
It needs expansion bad. Theres so many big events that skip Columbia for other cities just because we literally cant host anything bigger. Soda City Comic Con is already almost using the whole building at this point and it's only getting bigger where is Soda City supposed to go at that point? our con space is too small for this.
Also in that article they were talking about a developer who is proposing a development at the Kline Site again. let's hope it actually works out this time. ince we have that new hotel about to pop up across the street from it at the McDonalds spot soon
That reference confused me because I thought that project was effectively dead. I think they were just describing the guy rather than saying Kline was coming back, but I could be wrong.
I do. That’s a good perspective to have although do we meet the minimum amount of full service hotels that the NCAA wants to host a mens tournament? Or was it total rooms?
For the men's tournament, it was full-service kitchens in hotels.
When Columbia hosted in 2019, they got a waiver to host. Not sure how they remedied the situation, i.e. have more teams partner up and share hotels with full-service kitchens? Have freshly prepared food brought in to hotels without full-service kitchens?
The reasoning for the full-service kitchens, is that teams will be able to have their team meals at the hotel, throughout their stay, and not have to go elsewhere for meals. The NCAA likes to have the same structure for all teams while they are playing in the tournament.
New temporary homeless housing in Columbia. To me this is really big news; such a progressive move that majorly helps people and the well-being of the city.
City funded and also help from a Federal program to make this a reality. Overall, it says the city of Columbia will spend $3 million annually for homeless.
New temporary homeless housing in Columbia. To me this is really big news; such a progressive move that majorly helps people and the well-being of the city.
City funded and also help from a Federal program to make this a reality. Overall, it says the city of Columbia will spend $3 million annually for homeless.
By the way, big time kudos to Dr. Aditi Bussells for making this happen. I didn’t know much about her but now I’m a huge fan. Bravo
Yeah I saw that. that's real good news I'm happy to see the city is actually trying to do something to help the homeless instead of jailing them or throwing them out into the countryside so they have a hard time getting back into town like what Atlanta did.
This is a step in the right direction for Columbia
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I'm happy to see the city is actually trying to do something to help the homeless instead of jailing them or throwing them out into the countryside so they have a hard time getting back into town like what Atlanta did.
