Convention Facilities Authority aims for two new downtown hotels, for nearly $120 million in estimated investments

Since 2021, the authority has owned and operated the Dayton Convention Center and its facilities.

Last year, the authority chose North Carolina-based Concord Hospitality Enterprises Co. to create a new full-service hotel on a city-owned plaza across South Jefferson Street to the east of the convention center, to be known as the “HQ Hotel."

But the authority also wants to purchase and develop another nearby building, at 211 S. Main, as a second nearby hotel within easy reach of the convention center.

The quest for new hotels so close to the convention center — which recently underwent a $45 million renewal — is justified by need, Plageman said. Two market studies have identified a need for no less than 500 committable hotel rooms within walking distance of the convention center for its guests and patrons, she and others have said.

The authority is negotiating for the purchase of the “Fidelity” building at 211 S. Main St. The vision is to have that building anchor its block as a new hotel just across the street from the convention center, Plageman said.

To take on peer cities such as Toledo and Fort Wayne, Ind., this kind of redevelopment is needed, she told trustees.

“We have identified groups who will come to Dayton if we activate as we say we will,” Plageman said.

A tentative timeline for renewing the Fidelity building would have a purchase agreement and closing date set in the fourth quarter this year, with due diligence and title work coming later, and the solicitation of developers by the second quarter next year, according to documents shared with Port Authority trustees.

The estimated investment for the Fidelity building would be about $42 million for a 130-room hotel with retail and other business space.

The HQ Hotel would take an approximately $77 million investment for its part.

“It’s not ambitious,” Plageman said in an interview after the meeting, referring to the combined $119 million in hotel plans for that part of downtown. “It’s realistic.”

The area can sustain that kind of development, she said. “These kinds of decisions aren’t made on a whim.”

Securing and redeveloping the adjacent building at 225 S. Main is also a an authority goal.

Work on the HQ Hotel continues. That hotel’s timeline calls for a request for proposals from contractors next July, with the hiring of contractors by August next year and a hotel opening targeted for June 2028.

“We can compete against anyone among convention centers our size,” Plageman said.