Birmingham
Growing Convention District Just The Beginning
Appropriately nicknamed "The Magic City," Birmingham, Ala., continues to surprise visitors and meeting planners alike, according to Mike Gunn, vice president of convention sales for the Greater Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB).
Gunn said the city is vastly expanding its options for groups with an estimated $194.2 million being invested in hotel construction or renovations completed in the past year, new projects opening in the upcoming months, and proposed projects on tap for the future. "Birmingham is making waves in the hospitality sector," Gunn said.
In February, the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC) Board of Directors unanimously agreed to support resurrecting the famed "Welcome to Birmingham, The Magic City" sign as a gateway to the complex's new entertainment district. John Montgomery, president of Big Communications, which represents the CVB and BJCC in their marketing efforts, presented the idea for bringing back the much-loved sign as a focal point for the district. "We believe The Magic City sign would be an irresistible photo op for visitors and an exciting landmark for locals, many of whom remember the original that stood on Fifth Avenue," he said.
The announcement of the sign comes months after city officials and developers announced plans for the BJCC entertainment district, set to open its first phase with restaurants and night spots in 2009. The district will be located adjacent to the BJCC, which offers 220,000 square feet of meeting space within 76 meeting rooms.
In April, Harbert Realty Services announced its partnership with Concord Hospitality Enterprises to turn the former Regions Financial Corporation headquarters, located downtown, into a $52 million, 255-room Marriott Renaissance hotel. The 17-story tower will feature 12,000 square feet of meeting and convention space, banquet facilities, a full-service restaurant and bar, a fitness center, a pool, concierge services, and a business center.
Plans are in the works to expand the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, already home to the country's largest collection of vintage vehicles, nearly doubling its size, according to CVB officials. The expansion will add another 100,000 square feet of motorcycle exhibit space to the existing 140,000-square-foot museum. Groundbreaking is set for spring 2009. The museum provides four meeting rooms and 20,000 square feet of meeting space.
Several new hotel projects are on tap to open in the near future or have recently opened, according to Gunn, who explained that when the current projects reach completion, more than 1,300 guest rooms will be added to the downtown Birmingham inventory alone. "Which means," he said, "we have a nice new product to sell to potential customers."
In September, Roberts Hotel Group, a division of The Roberts Companies, announced plans to restore the historic A.G. Gaston Motel. Situated in the heart of the Civil Rights District, the motel has remained closed since the mid- 1970s. Although the group has not announced a projected timetable, the proposed development would cost an estimated $40 million and include retail shops, a nightclub and a conference center.
Additional new hotels in the area include the restoration of the historic 1926 Federal Reserve building into Vantage Hospitality's Four-Star Lexington Collection Hotel, which would be Birmingham's first green project, according to CVB officials, who also announced that a 150-room Hyatt Place and a 123-room Marriott Residence Inn are in the works.
Construction has begun on an aloft hotel in downtown Homewood, a Birmingham suburb. According to developers Scott Bryant and Bubba Smith of Winston Hospitality, the $20 million hotel is set to offer 111 guest rooms and is expected to open in mid-2009.
And, the new 102-room Hampton Inn and Suites Hoover/Galleria opened earlier this year with 1,200 square feet of meeting space, CVB officials said.
Key Info · Sales Tax: 9 percent
· Hotel Tax: 14 percent
· Transportation: This year, Continental Airlines expanded service at Birmingham International Airport by adding two daily, non-stop flights on a new route to Ohio's Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport. Continental now provides 11 daily departures from Birmingham to various U.S. airports. |
Yes, Birmingham is making news with several new hotel projects, but the city is also making strides with renovations to existing area hotels, including The Tutwiler Hotel, which completed a renovation and expansion project in 2007. The hotel's upgrades include the addition of 17 new suites, a fitness center, a business center, and a breakfast room with a view of the city, said Director of Catering Trisha Conrad. The hotel's renovation also included upgrading the equipment in the meeting rooms. "The Tutwiler features a total of 3,000 square feet of flexible meeting space all located on the lobby level," Conrad said.
To coincide with The Tutwiler Hotel's $9 million restoration, the hotel launched the "Make It Happen" customer service program, which requires employee certification in various areas of service. It also includes the implementation of new technology designed to alert the general manager when service requests are not met within five minutes.
According to Kelli Burkett, sales account manager for the 295-room Birmingham Marriott, "the hotel is very well maintained." The hotel introduced a new bedding package and upgraded all of the TVs in the guest rooms to make way for high definition. "The TVs are all flat panels and there is a jack pack in the room as well. With this, guests can get a cable from the front desk to do a split screen on the TV so they can watch TV and work on their laptop at the same time," Burkett said. The hotel offers 13,000 square feet of meeting space.
Currently undergoing a $16 million renovation is the 757-room Sheraton Birmingham Hotel. The hotel's transformation began in 2006 and is expected to be completed in 2009, according to Harry Traylor, director of sales and marketing, who said the major project includes an overhaul of both the interior with the addition of hospitality suites and the exterior with the cleaning of exterior walls and landscaping. Other improvements include renovations to the concert hall.
The 298-room Doubletree Hotel Birmingham Downtown offers 15,000 square feet of meeting space. The hotel, according to Owen Hulsey, director of sales, is located adjacent to the University of Alabama in Birmingham, and the university's medical center and is within walking distance of the Five Points South Historic District.
Also located in the Five Points South Historical District is The Highland Conference Center, which offers approximately 10,000 square feet of meeting space and is adjacent to the Hotel Highland at Five Points South, according to Jeffery Square, event coordinator. "We are a full-service conference center with gourmet food and beverage, valet, and other services and amenities," Square said.
Fresh off a $5.9 million renovation in May is the Holiday Inn Birmingham Airport, according to hotel officials. The 220-room hotel added 2,484 square feet of meeting space and offers a new restaurant, The Steel City Bar and Grill, a new fitness center, and the Coffee Café shop.
According to General Manager Tynette Lynch, the Wynfrey Hotel at Riverchase Galleria saw a "$3 million renovation in 2007 that included the installation of imported Italian marble and French chandelier lighting in all of the property's guest bathrooms." The hotel also installed new carpet and added a plush, Egyptian cotton linen package with monogram pillows and throws in guest rooms, Lynch said. The 329-room hotel offers more than 32,000 square feet of meeting space.
The 205-room Hilton Birmingham Perimeter Park offers nine meeting rooms totaling 10,000 square feet of meeting space. A $6.5 million renovation is scheduled for this summer to enhance all aspects of the hotel, according Layne Matthews, director of sales. The hotel is located along the Hwy. 280 section of Birmingham that offers notable restaurants, nightlife and outdoor recreation.
The Carraway-Davie House and Conference Center is one of the more unique conference centers in the region because of the historic home on property, said Courtney Brown, event coordinator. Along with three guest suites, the conference center has six meeting rooms totaling 18,000 square feet with a banquet hall that can also be divided into three breakout rooms. "Groups especially enjoy meeting here because of the beautiful house on property and the amenities that the conference center offers. The executive chef and the owner are known in Birmingham as providing the best catering in town. And, we're located a few minutes from The Summit Birmingham (a shopping center) and the city of Mountain Brook, which offers boutique shopping." Nearby, in Liberty Park, a Hilton Garden Inn offers additional accommodations, Brown said. "It's a wonderful property that opened a few months ago."
The Hilton Garden Inn Birmingham Southeast/Liberty Park offers 130 guest rooms and three meeting rooms within 2,000 square feet of space.
Earning its second Four-Diamond award and the distinction of being named one of
Travel + Leisure's Top 500 Hotels in the World is the Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort and Spa. Area Director of Sales and Marketing Joe Saling credits the resort's awards to its services and style. "The interesting thing about us is that we are the only resort in the Greater Birmingham area. There's no other hotel in the area where guests can walk out and hear the crickets or enjoy a fire pit over a cigar," he said. "Our setting is very unique, which sets us apart from our competition."
This summer, the resort will begin a $50,000 transformation of its exclusive club lounge into a boardroom, complete with upscale de´cor and technology, Saling said.
The resort features 259 guest rooms and more than 20,000 square feet of function space, which includes a 12,000-square-foot outdoor terrace space that connects to the ballroom, Saling said, adding that groups can participate in the Porsche Sport Driving School, where drivers learn about capabilities and performance of Porsche automobiles.
For six years in a row, the Hilton Garden Inn Birmingham/Lakeshore Drive has won the J.D Power and Associates award for product quality, customer satisfaction and other industry-specific metrics that gauge company performance. "We stand for consistency, professionalism and have more than 40 years of experience handling corporate meetings," said Donald Meksvanh, director of sales. The 95-room hotel offers 1,000 square feet of meeting space that can be divided into two rooms. Last December, the hotel rolled out a new bedding package and new carpeting.
