Construction on a new Marriott Hotel in downtown Syracuse is slated to begin Thursday.

The hotel is part of The Inns at Armory Square, which is a project to include both the 100-room Marriott and a 75-room Courtyard Residence Inn on the same property in Armory Square, said Linda Hartsock, director of the Connective Corridor. The space will also contain 15,000 square feet of retail shops and on-site parking.

‘You think about that volume of people staying anywhere, from one night to a month. They’re going to be people who will want to shop, to eat, to want to visit galleries and other cultural venues downtown. It will create a demand,’ Hartsock said.

Hartsock said the two hotels are projected to accommodate more than 90,000 guests per year. Independent marketing analysis estimates the hotels will bring in $17 million in annual spending downtown, an area the city has worked to revitalize. This will generate a need for more services in the area.

Ben Walsh, deputy commissioner of business development in the Office of Neighborhood and Business Development in Syracuse, said a downtown hotel is positive for the community.

‘Armory Square is the center of economic and cultural activity, not only downtown but in the county,’ he said.

The Inns at Armory Square would particularly serve the OnCenter, Hartsock said. Currently, there is insufficient lodging to support the center, which has 99,000 square feet of banquet, dining, retail and meeting spaces.

‘Moving this forward will not help just Armory Square, but the city of Syracuse as it looks to attract bigger events at the OnCenter,’ she said.

Jean Kessner, Syracuse councilor-at-large, said downtown Syracuse is often criticized for its lack of hotel space.

‘There have been a number of false starts downtown, particularly to serve the convention center,’ Kessner said, including stalled plans for the renovation of the Hotel Syracuse and prolonged debate over a convention center hotel.

Including the closing of the Hotel Syracuse, downtown has lost about 600 hotel rooms within the last 20 years, Hartsock said. The Inns at Armory Square will bring 175 rooms back to the area.

The Marriott will also bring about 100 permanent jobs and 100 construction jobs to the area, Walsh said. He said the varying skill levels required in hospitality would benefit the local economy.

‘The unique nature of working at a hotel is that it does provide a career ladder that many other industries don’t,’ he said. ‘You can start out working a low-wage, low-skill job and work your way up through management.’

Construction is expected to last 18 months, Hartsock said. The site is currently a parking lot on the corner of West Fayette Street and Franklin Street, according to a Feb. 28 CNY Central article.

Construction on an existing parking lot is a reflection of an improving economy, Walsh said.

‘It shows us that the economy is changing,’ he said. ‘A parking lot is no longer the most economically beneficial use of downtown real estate.’

Financing for the hotel began in July 2008, although the financial meltdown in October of that year slowed the project’s momentum, Hartsock said. Funding sources included local banks, the city, the county and the New York Business Development Corp., which recently provided the final funding package.

The budget for the project is more than $31 million, all funded by low-interest loans, Hartsock said. The hotel space downtown could influence further residential development in the area as well.

‘If they (hotel guests) are looking for housing, they will like living downtown,’ she said. ‘They become prospects for the very innovative housing projects that are being planned.’

There is $54 million worth of investment in projects related to both new residential space and new commercial retail, she said.

‘There are a lot of good things happening downtown,’ said Kessner, the councilor-at-large, ‘and this hotel will just make that all the better.’

nagorny@syr.edu 

Published on March 7, 2012 at 12:00 pm