A recent report from Hunden Strategic Solutions finds that before downtown Jackson can support a convention center hotel, it needs to attract more people, bring in more businesses, and it needs to have more events.
Downtown Jackson Partners (DJP) President Ben Allen couldn’t agree more.
“Downtown needs exactly what (the study) is talking about,” he said.
City officials recently shared the findings from a draft market study conducted by Hunden.
Jackson hired the consultant late last year as part of an agreement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The city used approximately $7 million in HUD loans to purchase the convention center hotel site. As part of repayment terms, the city had to conduct a market study of the area, as well as draw up plans to redevelop the site based on findings.
Originally, plans were to repay the loan with tax revenues generated by new development, with the loan expected to be paid off by 2028. However, because no development had occurred, HUD called the loan. The city begins repaying the debt this year.
Initial results of the study were revealed at two public meetings last week, and the final study is slated to be released on May 30.
The report stated that the downtown corridor needed a convention center hotel but doesn’t have the market to support it.
Instead, the city needs to focus on growing its residential, retail and restaurant offerings downtown, and giving the corridor a more cohesive feel.
“Doing that would make the convention center more attractive and make a hotel possible,” said Planning and Development Director Mukesh Kumar. “It (the convention center) does need a hotel bigger than any of the ones nearby but adding another 350-room hotel is something the market cannot bear at the moment.”
Hunden noted a number of challenges facing the downtown business improvement district, including the fact that rental rates are “below the national average and may not support the quality and scale of development that the market is calling for.
“There are only two true convention-quality hotel products downtown … The restaurant market is relatively small … The retail market is very sparse and is primarily made up of boutique, home furnishing and novelty-type stores.”
The report cites three “branded hotels (downtown), which total just a few hundred rooms.
“While the (Westin) is within walking distance of the convention center it is not large enough or proximate enough for meeting planners to consider it as a headquarters ... for their events.”
As for events, Hunden found that events downtown are few and far between, making the area less attractive for tourists and convention organizers.
Finally, the executive summary states that the convention center hotel site is an eyesore, that it separates the convention center from the rest of downtown, and limits the center’s ability to attract conventions and other events.
The 8.29-acre site is located across from the Jackson Convention Complex and is bordered by East Pascagoula Street, East Pearl Street and South Farish Street.
The property is characterized by large, uneven slabs of concrete. Much of the land was purchased by the capital city previously for the specific purpose of building a convention center hotel.
Plans for hotels have come and gone, with the spot being used primarily for parking at special events.
“Look at Google Earth. It looks like a crater,” Allen said.
Now, the city is focusing on what to do with the property.
Officials are hoping to transform the property into a mixed-use development, that includes public green spaces, non-traditional office spaces, limited retail and eventually a hotel.
Non-traditional office spaces provide workers with a shared space and shared utility costs.
The offices are especially popular with millennials, who are looking for more affordable and more casual settings, Allen and Kumar explained.
To help draw up plans, the city will be hosting a “Downtown Design Dialogue,” on June 30. The all-day event will be held at the convention complex, and will be open to anyone who wants to comment or offer ideas on a potential plan.
“It’s open to anybody - anybody who wants to join is welcome,” Kumar said.
Exact times had not been set for the session at press time.
Plans will be drawn up by Hunden and Jackson-based Dale Partners Architects, and will be based in part on comments received at the dialogue session.
“By August 15, we’ll have a conceptual plan., with an RFP and an RFQ put out,” Kumar said.
An RFP and an RFQ are requests for proposals and requests for qualifications respectively.
“Tentatively, we expect to have (a firm selected) by December or January. The most aggressive timeline for this would see (construction) toward the middle of next year.”
