GRAND RAPIDS, MI — The public authority that owns and operates Van Andel Arena and DeVos Place has shelved plans for a large-scale convention hotel in downtown Grand Rapids because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Steve Heacock, who chairs the Grand Rapids-Kent County Convention/Arena Authority, said the hotel concept, which would have likely required public financing, will be reexamined in the future once the coronavirus pandemic is concluded.
“It’s not that we’re giving up on it,” he said. “We’ve got great drawings; we’ve got a great start. But we don’t know what’s going to happen to the use of hotel rooms and certainly want to make certain that those hotels that are already in place recover.”
The coronavirus pandemic has brought the convention and hospitality industry in Michigan to a near halt since March, when Gov. Gretchen Whitmer instituted a temporary ban on large gatherings.
While the convention hotel concept is on pause, the CAA is pushing forward with plans to possibly build an outdoor concert amphitheater in downtown Grand Rapids. A task force, created by the CAA and comprised of Grand Rapids civic leaders, has been examining the concept since 2019.
Heacock said there’s still a significant amount of work left to do on the amphitheater project. A site where the venue could be built has not been selected, he said.
Details surrounding the size of the venue have not been finalized, but officials have said it would be capable of hosting national touring acts.
“We think it could be a big part of the revitalization of downtown, create many jobs, and create a lot of excitement,” Heacock said.
Both the amphitheater and convention hotel concept were being studied by a seven-member task force chaired by Doug Small, president and CEO of Experience Grand Rapids. Other members include Grand Rapids City Manager Mark Washington, The Right Place President and CEO Birgit Klohs, Downtown Grand Rapids Inc. President and CEO Tim Kelly, among others.
The task force was originally expected to issue a report recommending whether the CAA to move forward with either project by the end of 2019. In December, prior to the coronavirus pandemic, officials from the task force said they needed more time to further study the concepts, and that the report was expected to be issued in early 2020.
The push for the new convention hotel in Grand Rapids was born out of a 2016 study that concluded the city needs another 400-plus room convention hotel with significant ballroom and meeting space if it wants to continue to grow as a destination for regional and national conventions.
Rich MacKeigan, regional general manager of ASM Global, the company that manages the arena and DeVos Place, said the coronavirus pandemic has caused too much uncertainty in the hospitality and convention sectors to warrant such a project at this time.
“Until it’s understood what the long-term impact would be, the CAA is extremely wise in holding off advancing that concept,” said MacKeigan, who has assisted in the exploratory work surrounding the amphitheater and convention hotel concept.
A location for the hotel concept had not been finalized, but discussions had included the possibility of building it atop DeVos Place convention center.
Related: Idea of publicly financed convention hotel raises questions in Grand Rapids
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