Downtown Lancaster Marriott’s Owner Proposes 96-Room, $23M Expansion

The math is simple.

If the Lancaster County Convention Center wants to attract bigger numbers of large conventions, it needs bigger numbers of nearby, convention-quality hotel rooms.

And right now, despite 299 rooms in the adjoining Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square, plus 134 more at The Hotel Lancaster two blocks away, research studies show that downtown is coming up short.

But a new proposal by the Marriott’s owner would make the convention center more appealing to the organizers of these big events.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/news/local/downtown-marriott-s-owner-proposes–room-m-expansion/article_b1b39a1e-a8da-11e4-b47b-3bbb05f76f38.html

County Commissioner: Deal Will Put Lancaster County Convention Center On Solid Financial Footing

Lancaster County Commissioner Scott Martin announced an agreement Wednesday that promises to put the Lancaster County Convention Center on solid financial footing.

But it requires significant concessions from six parties, and that work is not yet complete.

One of those parties, Penn Square Partners, was noticeably absent from the press conference in the commissioners’ meeting room.

Penn Square Partners Vice President Mark Fitzgerald said later Wednesday the private-sector partners participated in crafting the agreement and agreed with its provisions in principal.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/891056_County-commissioner–Deal-will-put-Lancaster-County-Convention-Center-on-solid-financial-footing.html#ixzz2e2FlSsK3

Lancaster County Convention Center Gets Deadline Extension On Debt

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lancaster County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Lancaster County Convention Center is living on borrowed time.

With less than three weeks to go before the center’s $64 million in construction debt was due to be restructured — pushing interest rates higher — officials on Friday extended the financing for three more months.

The move buys time for negotiation with lender Wells Fargo to come to terms the center can live with.

A consultant sounded the alarm a year ago that the nearly 4-year-old center could be forced to close if revenues were not significantly increased or financing fees cut.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/813342_Convention-center-gets-deadline-extension-on-debt.html#ixzz2KX1XXIeh