CINCINNATI — Cincinnati leaders are breaking ground Tuesday morning on the $540 million convention headquarters hotel, with hopes the project will make the First Financial Center more competitive in attracting major conventions and large-scale meetings.
Crews began preparing the site and conducting underground utility work earlier this year, according to project development manager 3CDC. The project officially closed on financing in June.
The hotel, the Cincinnati Marriot Downtown, is planned to be 21-stories tall, featuring 700 hotel rooms, 60,000 square feet of meeting space, a full-service restaurant on the first floor and a bar on the second floor overlooking Fifth Street and the First Financial Center. An open terrace is planned for the sixth floor. Meeting space will be distributed between the ground floor through the sixth floor, with hotel rooms occupying the floors above.
WATCH: How might a convention center hotel boost business at the First Financial Center?
A major component of the project is a sky bridge that will connect the hotel to the First Financial Center, which recently underwent an 18-month, $264 million renovation project.
The project is a significant step forward in transforming Cincinnati's Convention Center District, Katie Westbrook, 3CDC executive vice president of development, said. 3CDC is working on behalf of the city and county on the project. Portman Holdings, an Atlanta-based company, is the developer and will be the ultimate owner of the hotel.
"Adding this hotel and having a true headquarters hotel directly connected to the convention center is a real game changer for our city and also for Visit Cincy and what they do," Westbrook said.
During an interview with the WCPO I-Team earlier this month, Visit Cincy officials said this year, the convention center is operating at roughly half of its long-term utilization target as Cincinnati rebuilds its convention calendar following the facility’s reopening. The long-term goal for the First Financial Center is approximately 50% utilization from convention business.
Westbrook said Visit Cincy's efforts to recruit large conventions to the city has been limited by the fact Cincinnati lacks a single, large hotel directly connected to the convention center.
The new project looks to replace a hole left by the closure of the Millennium Hotel, which was demolished in March 2022. The 872-room hotel was Downtown Cincinnati's largest and a go-to stay for convention center visitors for years due to its proximity to the then Duke Energy Convention Center. It closed in December of 2019 following its reported dilapidated state.
"Up until this point, Visit Cincy has been kind of handcuffed in what they're able to offer meeting planners ... when they're making those offers, they have to put together multiple hotels," Westbrook said. "Now that the hotel is officially closed on financing and under construction, I do believe that Visit Cincy will be able to kind of right the ship and start bringing those bigger and more expensive meetings to Cincinnati."
Under a room block agreement with Portman Holdings, Visit Cincy will have first access to rooms at preferred rates, which gives them more leverage in competing for convention contracts, Westbrook said.
According to Visit Cincy, Cincinnati's main competitors in attracting convention center business are Columbus, Louisville, Indianapolis, Birmingham, Alabama and Nashville.
"If you look at other hotels downtown, they have meeting room space, maybe a ballroom, but they don't have as much as what we're developing here at the Cincinnati Marriott Downtown," Westbrook said.
The hotel is expected to open in late 2028 or early 2029. Westbrook said she hopes the finished project will transform the southwest quadrant of downtown Cincinnati, generate additional development opportunities in the surrounding area and elevate the city's profile for both meeting planners and tourists.
"Having a Marriott, a traditional Marriott in our downtown, is really going to kind of lift Cincinnati up, not only for meeting planners but also just leisure travel," she said.
As hotel construction continues, the convention center is preparing to host one of its largest events in years. The brothers of Omega Psi Phi Inc. Grand Conclave will take place at the convention center later this month. Visit Cincy has describes it as the biggest event the venue has hosted since the World Choir Games in 2012.
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