TW Article - Downtown Hotels Needed...but

[sgrizzle]

Did we miss an opportunity with the tribal casinos?  Imagine the Hard Rock Casino downtown.  I'm sure many of its rooms are/would be accounted for by patrons of the casino but it certainly would have contributed to the aggregate downtown and would have contributed to the synergy.  I wonder if there's an opportunity for one of them to develop another one.  Don't the 'nation' boundaries of the Creek and Cherokee intersect downtown?

The meeting of creek, cherokee and osage boundaries is north of downtown.

The tribes don't own land downtown and it's a long process from buying land to being able to build a casino.

[RecycleMichael]

The intersection of the three tribes is one block east of the election board. The dividing lines are basically Edison and Elwood. There is now an expressway right over the dividing line.

East of Elwood is Cherokee land, and west is Creek to the south and Osage to the north.

I have always wanted to build something called Three Tribes on that spot of land...a Three Tribes Museum...a Three Tribes Casino...

[Red Arrow]

The intersection of the three tribes is one block east of the election board. The dividing lines are basically Edison and Elwood. There is now an expressway right over the dividing line.

East of Elwood is Cherokee land, and west is Creek to the south and Osage to the north.

I have always wanted to build something called Three Tribes on that spot of land...a Three Tribes Museum...a Three Tribes Casino...

3 tribes recycling?

[TheLofts@120]

Scott, I saw your comment regarding parking and why a 400rm hotel would not build itself sufficient parking.  The reason is the cost.  Most hotel's operating proformas can not swallow the cost (average $18,000/space for structured parking).  Urban market hotels can, however, perform with less numbers of parking spaces than their suburban counterparts.  Most typically they can operate on as little as 60% parking requirements since most urban customers shuttle from airport to hotel, to work (close by) and back again.

There is a distinct feasibility gap in the downtown market.  For hotels, that gap can be covered using tax credits, abatements and such which could also help on the parking costs, so long as it still works in the operating proforma.  Today, most hotels being developed are falling into the mid-tier, limited service markets that can not get close to covering the cost of structured parking.

The other problem is procurring enough surrounding land for parking, even structured.

[bacjz00]

Interesting.  Anyone know who paid for the parking garage next to the Courtyard Marriott which sits adjacent to the Ford Center in OKC?   Seems like it's used for more than just the Hotel but that is where guests park too.