Marriott Signs on for L.A. Convention Hotel
Along with headquarters and boutique hotels, plan includes condominiums
By Rachelle Crum -- Tradeshow Week, 6/26/2006
After years in the making and development plans come and gone, this month the Los Angeles Convention Center hotel project has taken a huge step toward becoming reality.
Marriott will develop the 876-room Los Angeles Marriott Marquis as the center's headquarters hotel, along with the 124-room Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles. The hotels will be part of L.A. Live, the 4 million square foot, $2.5 billion sports and entertainment district that co-developers KB Urban, the mixed-use subsidiary of KB Home, and sports and entertainment firm AEG are currently developing in downtown Los Angeles.
Above the Ritz-Carlton, KB Urban plans to develop 216 residential condominiums, to be known as the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles. The hotels and residential complex will be housed in a 54-story tower, which will serve as a beacon for L.A. Live.
The Los Angeles Marriott Marquis will occupy 18 floors and is expected to have the largest ballroom in the city, with a capacity of up to 3,000 seated guests.
The sales center for the properties is set to open in the first quarter of 2007. The properties are scheduled to open sometime in 2010.
J.W. Marriott Jr., chairman and CEO of Marriott Intl., called L.A. Live "one of the largest and most important downtown developments to take place anywhere in the country over the next few years."
AEG President and CEO Timothy J. Leiweke said, "This is an extremely momentous agreement not only for L.A. Live, but for the Los Angeles Convention Center and the city of Los Angeles as well. ... We thank the Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton organizations for their commitment to this groundbreaking venture and their commitment to the future of our city."
Michael Krouse, vice president of convention sales for L.A. Inc., the Los Angeles Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the agreement was "essentially the catalyst that allows us to grow to the next level. The conventions that we have today are really nothing compared to what the future will hold."
Krouse said confirmation of the L.A. Live hotels and the bureau's restructured sales plan were responsible for drawing the Natl. Cable & Telecommunications Assn.'s The Natl. Show to the city in 2010 and 2013, as well as meetings of the American Assn. of Retired People in 2011 and the Intl. Reading Assn. in 2015, 2022 and 2026.
The Entertainment Software Assn. will also appreciate the headquarters hotel, said Mary Dolaher, vice president of tradeshows and events for the group, which annually produces E3/Electronic Entertainment Expo at the LACC.
Dolaher said, "E3 has had great business partnerships with all the L.A. hotel properties since 1995, and expects the new property to only add to the positive experience and enhance the experience for our audience."
In 2005, the headquarters hotel faced opposition from Peter Zen, who represents the owner of the downtown Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites. But a settlement negotiated by L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa put the long-awaited project back in motion.
Krouse said that shortly before announcement of the Marriott project, he had dinner with optimistic general managers of several downtown L.A. hotels.
"It's a new day down here. There's a renewed sense of teamwork," he said. "They're just all really excited about it."
AEG in January announced that Los Angeles-based KB Home would replace Apollo Real Estate Advisors and Wolff Urban Management, which withdrew their plans for L.A. Live. Hilton Hotels had previously signed on to operate the headquarters hotel. With the change of partners, negotiations reopened.
Marriott Hotel Services will be the exclusive operator of the Los Angeles Marriott Marquis. Ritz-Carlton Hotel, a subsidiary of Marriott Intl., will manage the Ritz-Carlton, Los Angeles.
In addition to being steps away from the LACC and AEG-owned Staples Center arena, L.A. Live will include the 7,100-seat Nokia Theater Los Angeles, the music venue Club Nokia, a 15-screen Regal Cineplex (to include an 800-seat premiere presentation theater), the Grammy Museum, restaurants, nightclubs and cafes. Owners of Residences at the Ritz-Carlton condos will have VIP access to events at Staples Center, Nokia Theater and Club Nokia, as well as special events at entertainment venues owned and operated by AEG around the world.
The Los Angeles-based AEG, a subsidiary of the Denver-based Anschutz Co., is also developing the 28-acre Millennium Dome outside London into the O2, a complex with a 23,000-seat arena and more than 650,000 sq. ft. of leisure and entertainment space.
Meanwhile, in nearby San Diego, groundbreaking for the 1,190-room Hilton San Diego Convention Center hotel took place in January. The 30-story property on the east side of the center is slated to open in late 2008.
