Before the pandemic, civic boosters, developers and all manner of politicos called the convention hotel the "missing piece" in Kansas City's ascendancy to major league status.
The deal to build the hotel was pushed through by termed out council members and then unquestioned by other leaders.
Now . . . It would be unfair to call the hotel's fate "karma" but the reality is that few locals feel sorry for the taxpayer subsided experiment that NEVER met with voter approval and FAILED before it had a chance to start.
To wit . . .
OPENING AMID COVID-19 AND ONGOING PANDEMIC DRAMA DOOMED THE DOWNTOWN CONVENTION HOTEL AND IT'S UNLIKELY TO RECOVER!!!
The travel biz is a tough sell overall but conventions are the least likely to make a comeback any time soon.
Moreover, taxpayer funded hotels have a horrible history in KC & the Midwest.
Of course we hope jobs are saved along with city hall cash . . . But the reality for the convention hotel game is daunting and the odds for success are dismal.
Check the links . . .
KMBC: 'It's going to get much worse' - The hotel industry may not recover until 2023
Chicago Tribune: Prospects dim for return of Chicago’s convention industry. ‘I would say definitely not 2021.’
DM Reg: Here's how the pandemic is costing you via Iowa government investments in arenas, convention centers and hotelsUS News: Majority of Americans Won’t Travel for Holidays Due to Coronavirus
AP News: Is it safe to stay in hotels during the pandemic?
Developing . . .
I guess the guy who said he would "see you at the groundbreaking" didn't have such a good time.
ReplyDeleteHope he wore a mask.
^^^
DeleteLulz
I thought they were going to turn it into a hospital for the covid patients. That's not a bad idea. Maybe putting the homeless camp here would be a better idea of the homeless or so many who need low income housing.
DeleteThink about it.
Hahaha. That's why you're not supposed to gamble with taxpayer money. Fuck you Sly James, Troy Schulte, and Quinton Lucas.
ReplyDeleteCovid didn't kill it, the fake media panic and ill advised lock downs killed it.
ReplyDeleteOnly one way to make money of this hotel, bitches.
ReplyDeleteThey should turn it into a party house. Set aside two or three floors as a huge strip club with all the booze and drugs and very hot sluts. Set aside another 3 or 4 floors for gambling. Another 3 or 4 floors as a high class whorehouse, lots of hot pussy. Just to not discriminate, set aside 1 floor as a gay dance club, for Quinton and his friends.
Keep the city council out of it and it will thrive.
ReplyDeleteThe Mike Burke, Sly James hotel has 800 rooms available for the homeless; with double occupancy, that provides for 1,600 homeless.
They will be fed in the Kay Barnes ballroom.
Lucas and the clowncil will be delighted to pick up the tab at full high season rates.
If DST Systems Inc was still in full operation and hadn't been sold, its young "ladies" would be renting rooms there every Friday night so they could spend the night with their Boss.
ReplyDeleteWhen the Vista hotel was built it was packed with DST Associates.
Hotels are not safe
ReplyDeleteit has that china flu aids in the air ducts blowing into all of your rooms
ReplyDeletesleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite or hop on your bag and ride to your house because then you will have bedbugs
White folks money getting might funny...herd immunity
ReplyDeleteI'm finna book an entire floor for $99 on this here groupon I found.
ReplyDelete@11:06 they take ebt or stamps?
ReplyDeleteBe sure to pay your property taxes by December 31 losers and suckers!
ReplyDeleteP.S. Y'all ain't getting a dime from me! This is going to be FUN to watch!
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
It was doomed before it started, they’re just using the Chinese red death virus as a convenient excuse. Sly and his buddies already made their money on the deal so for them it’s too bad for you taxpayers.
ReplyDeleteAny "luxury hotel" that depends for part of its INITIAL funding on a $4 million catering contract from city government is off to a very shaky start.
ReplyDeleteDoomed from the beginning by overcapacity and decreasing business travel and conventions.
But Burke and all the transaction guys have already cashed in.
So if lots of extra "funding" is necessary to keep the lights on, there's only one place it can come from.
Dig deep (again) KCMO taxpayers.
How's the downtown baseball stadium idea coming?
KC welfare project, it was never going to work out. Just another way for politically connected people to scam the system.
ReplyDeleteJ. E. Dunn was in charge of construction.
ReplyDeleteWould YOU want to stay in a "Poorly Dunn" Hotel?
Democrat Party policies built the hotel.
ReplyDeleteDemocrat Party policies destroy the hotel before it opened.
Democrat Party policies cost taxpayers $100 million plus on this fiasco.
How's those pot-hole streets, rancid water and backed-up sewers doing for you under the Democrat Party?
Enjoying the homicide murder record because 200 police officers were layed off to pay for this stupid hotel?
^^Yes! The new hotel is a fantastic addition to our downtown! It's beautiful and will be a terrific choice for visitors to our city. Onward KC, great things await!
ReplyDeleteI drove through Kansas Shitty yesterday. Didn't spend a dime there. Didn't stop for food, drinks or fuel. That's what that shithole has become to me. Drive through country. Just an obstacle in the way of going someplace more important (which is pretty much anywhere else but there).
ReplyDeleteYou did it to yourselves. Figure out a way to fix the mess without going into my pocket. I'm done with the corruption, the taxes, the extreme wastes of money spent on things that are simply not necessary while things that are continue to fall apart, the out of control shitty clowncil and that Q Ball idiot. I will go through or around Kansas Shitty but will be damned if I spend another dime there on anything.
Immediately you know there is something wrong with a commercial project that cannot be completed without public money. Finance people know the formulas and can calculate the break even. When they back away from being willing to use only their own money, the city should back off too.
ReplyDeleteThat said, the Kansas Star Bond system seems to be working, so far. We'll see how that holds after the recession has run its course for six to twelve months.
It all goes back to sales - people are traveling - you have to have smart sales people working in the industry.
ReplyDeleteLoews Hotel KC has no talent
^^OK CHUD, Seeing as how you never go anywhere, how would you know anything?
ReplyDelete