Floonis to grow: Rooms to grow.

• Author: Kinder, Peri

The idea of a full-service convention hotel in Salt Lake City has been kicked around for more than two decades. But during the 2014 Legislative Session, the idea finally caught hold, with legislators backing the concept to the tune of $75 million in tax incentives.

So downtown Salt Lake is about to get a $335 million hotel--one with up to 1,200 rooms, a huge addition in a city that currently has about 7,000 rooms total.

That's not to say construction will begin tomorrow. Salt Lake County will issue an RFP for the convention hotel by July 1, and city leaders hope to break ground in the spring of 2015, with a grand opening in the summer of 2017.

The city's new convention hotel will offer 850-1,200 rooms, along with at least 100,000 square feet of meeting space--all within walking distance of the Salt Palace Convention Center. It will be privately built and operated by a well-known national brand like Hyatt, Marriott or Westin. In addition, the brand will need to be willing to enter into a room block agreement with the city's convention and visitors bureau.

While city leaders and tourism officials say the new hotel is necessary if the state is to attract large-scale conventions--and hang onto the lucrative, bi-annual Outdoor Retailer show--other hoteliers say such a large hotel will be devastating to their business.

Ready to Compete

Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams says in order for Salt Lake to stay viable in the convention industry, a new convention hotel is non-negotiable.

McAdams was a proponent of a full-service convention hotel long before he took over as mayor in 2013. He believes a first-rate convention center needs a complementary hotel to encourage more localized events. Regional competitors already have convention hotels, or are in the process of constructing one, giving them a distinct advantage over Salt Lake.

"We really have a missing link when attracting conventions to the state of Utah. We concluded the hotel was a necessary addition to our market to compete with places like Phoenix, Denver or Albuquerque," he says.

It wasn't long ago that convention planners didn't even glance in Salt Lake City's direction when choosing a site to hold their big events. But the 2002 Olympic Winter Games changed all that. Suddenly, people around the country realized Utah leaders could organize, host and pull off a world-class party For the first time, Salt Lake was on the convention map.

Three expansions to the Salt Palace increased the amount of meeting space available to 679,000 square feet, putting it in the top 10 percent of convention space in terms of size. The site now attracts big conventions from across the country, bringing in tens of thousands of visitors who spend money, and pay taxes, on food...