Albany Convention Center

8/13/2019 Albany Convention Center

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Dec 20, 2013, 10:34am EST

Marketing efforts start long before new

Albany convention center opens Back to article

A rendering of the $66.5 million convention center planned for downtown Albany, NY.

Courtesy of the Albany Convention Center Authority

Michael DeMasi Reporter- Albany Business Review Email | Google+ | Twitter | LinkedIn

A new convention center isnt expected to open in downtown Albany, NY, until summer 2016,

but local tourism officials are wasting no time trying to market the venue.A display ad for the convention center, to be called Albany Capital Center, will appear in theJanuary issue of Small Market Meetings , a publication targeted at meeting planners.

Its a small-but-important first step in whats expected to be an intensive, coordinated marketingcampaign for the $66.5 million convention center, said Michele Vennard , president and CEO ofAlbany County Convention & Visitors Bureau.
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Schedulers for conventions, trade shows, corporate meetings and conferences typically bookspace two to three years out. That means Albany officials have to sell the new facility long before ground is broken.

I think its imperative they get a sales team selling this year, said Jack Roddy, sales director at

The Desmond Hotel & Conference Center and past president of the local chapter of MeetingProfessionals International.

One challenge will be overcoming doubts among meeting planners that the 85,000-square-footconvention center will open on time. That could deter some from making a commitment for thespace.

Vennard isnt concerned about that because she said meeting planners are accustomed to dealingwith some uncertainty surrounding new facilities.

If theres a challenge, it will be getting across the concept of the three entities, she said,

referring to the convention center, Times Union Center and Empire State Plaza.All three will be linked by an existing walkway that will be enclosed, boosting the total availablelease space to 159,000 square feet, larger than any other convention center in upstate New York.

The details surrounding who will market and manage all three buildings have yet to be workedout, but the company that runs Times Union Center, SMG , has already indicated it wants thecontract.

In the interim, Vennards group will likely have a memorandum of understanding with theAlbany Convention Center Authority to handle the marketing until a permanent manager is

chosen.According to the latest feasibility study, Albany lost out on 140,653 visitors and 106,898 hotelroom nights from 2009 to 2012 because meeting planners decided to go elsewhere, though thereason for their decision is typically not known.
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Cuomo admin has OK'ed Albany convention center

posted Dec 17, 2013

A rendering for the Eagle Street side.

Updated

So, this is news: "A government official involved in the project's negotiations" tells the BizReview's Adam Sichko that the Cuomo administration has approved the scaled-down version of

the Albany convention center . That's a big deal because buy-in from the Cuomo admin wouldopen the way for the release of about $70 million in money that's already allocated/promised/setaside for a convention center project.

The new scaled-down plan was introduced in November . It would site a 82,000-square-footfacility at Howard and Eagle in downtown Albany. The Albany Convention Center Authority hastouted the new plan -- about a third the size of the of the originally proposed project -- as a "hub" between the Empire State Plaza and the Times Union Center, with all three connected by acovered walkway.

The ACCA said the $66.5 million project could be paid for with the already-allocated money. It

estimated that it could be completed by July 2016.The Cuomo administration confirmed the approval in a press release later on Tuesday. Therelease included a name for the facility -- "Albany Capital Center" -- and a start date forconstruction -- June 2014.

Oh, and there's important bit tucked into the administration's announcement:
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Furthermore, the land accumulated by the Authority for the first proposed location would beconveyed to the Office of General Services (OGS) and would be made available for appropriatedevelopment through a Request for Proposal managed by OGS and Empire State Development(ESD), with the goals of expanding the local commercial tax base and the creation of jobs andopportunities

That land is the chunk on the south side of downtown Albany near the bus station. Earlier thisyear an idea was floated for the land to be used for an aquarium/science center/something orother . The fact that the state will directly controlling the land prompts a lot of questions --including what state officials consider "appropriate development" for the site.

Albany Convention Center Eagle and Howard Plan 11-25-13 Draft Presentation by alloveralbany

Estimated footprint (very unofficial)

The proposed -- and scaled-down -- Albany conventioncenter

posted Nov 25, 2013
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A rendering for the Eagle Street side. That entrance is style is called a "porte-cochre." / image:ACCA/CHA

The Albany Convention Center Authority revealed a bit more about the revised plan to build ascaled-down, $66.5 million convention center at Eagle and Howard streets in downtown Albany.

An ACCA slide deck about the project is embedded after the jump -- it includes some renderingsand details. Also there: an clickable map with estimated building print.

This new plan replaces the original proposal for much larger facility on the southern end ofdowntown Albany. That plan fizzled over the last few years under concerns about cost andwhether the project could float financially over the long term.

The authority is touting the new project -- about a third the size of the of the other project -- as a"hub" between the Empire State Plaza and the Times Union Center, with all three connected by acovered walkway and 2) feasible under the approximately $70 million alreadyallocated/promised/set aside for the original convention center. It projects a timeline that

includes a possible completion date of July 2016.There are still a handful of questions and uncertainties about the project. This article from theBiz Review's Mike DeMasi covers a lot of them, along with other details about the project.

And what of the south side downtown land gathered for the original project? JCE reported in theTU today that the authority is planing to issue a request for proposals for a mixed-use project onthe site.
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Albany Convention Center

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Transcript of Albany Convention Center