FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE
MARRIOTT LANCASTER AT PENN SQUARE AND THE LANCASTER COUNTY
CONVENTION CENTER
THE FACTS
The downtown Marriott Lancaster at Penn Square, an upscale, full-service
hotel will open in a new hotel tower and spaces shared with
the Lancaster County Convention Center Authority in the former
Watt & Shand
Building. Construction is underway with opening scheduled for
spring 2009. The hotel is one component of a downtown revitalization
plan that also includes the development of a convention center.
The total project will cost $170 million to build. (See
facts and figures for more details.) Here are answers to some common
questions about the project.
WHO IS PENN SQUARE PARTNERS?
The two Penn Square Partners are general partner Penn Square
General Corporation, an affiliate of The High Companies,
and limited partner Penn Square Ltd. LLC, an affiliate of Lancaster
Newspapers, Inc., leading Lancaster-based companies with
long histories of commitment to the community.
WHAT ARE THE DESIGN PRINCIPLES
GUIDING DEVELOPMENT OF THE HOTEL AND CONVENTION CENTER?
The project design team, led by Cooper Carry Architects (Atlanta
GA), is
guided by these design principles, which were established in
collaboration with community leaders and community members at
various public meetings and design charettes:
- An open, inclusive design process
- Community perspective
- Synergies with the tourism industry
- A world-class team of design
professionals
- Create an efficient hotel and
convention center plan by maximizing shared facilities to
reduce first-time cost and ongoing operating cost for the
project.
- Great streets
- Enliven Penn Square with pedestrian
activity
- No back doors
- Minimize the effects of
loading/unloading
- Flexibility
- Flexible and expandable meeting &
function space
- Maximize target market by varying
the size and quality of the meeting/convention space
- Arrival
- 70% of guest's experience happens
before the front door
- Maximize Lancaster's historic
assets
- Scale
- Design the buildings appropriately
- Minimize negative impact of
"Streetscape"
- Unique identity
- Lancaster, create a unique sense of
place
- Theme-based design
- Historic structures
- Respect, enhance and incorporate existing historical
structures
HOW WILL THE CITIZENS
OF LANCASTER
BENEFIT FROM THIS HOTEL?
See
Community Benefits section of this site.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE WATT & SHAND
BUILDING?
The façade of the Watt & Shand Building will be restored to its
former glory and, along with new construction, the property will
be converted into a 21st century, upscale, full-service hotel
and convention center with a restaurant and bar, lounges,
ballrooms, meeting space, exhibit areas and so forth. In order
to provide the anticipated number of guest rooms and all of
the amenities included in a Marriott Hotel, a tower addition
also will be constructed. The hotel’s design will be respectful of
the streetscape that is uniquely Lancaster. See the
proposed business plan for more
information.
WHO WILL OWN
THE MARRIOTT LANCASTER
AT PENN SQUARE?
See the proposed business plan
for more information.
WHO WILL OWN THE WATT & SHAND BUILDING?
State law requires that additional state funding coming to the
project from state grants and Act 23 must be received by a
public entity. Since a portion of these state funds will be
used to construct spaces that will be shared by the convention
center and the hotel within the former Watt & Shand Building, the
Watt
& Shand Building will be owned by a public entity.
Because the project is a centerpiece in the
redevelopment of downtown Lancaster, the Redevelopment Authority
of the City of Lancaster (RACL) has agreed to receive and
to administer these state funds. Penn Square Partners (PSP)
has transferred ownership of the Watt & Shand Building to RACL and
invested the proceeds into the project. See the
proposed business plan for more
information.
HOW DO MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL
AND INTERSTATE HOTELS & RESORTS RELATE TO THE MARRIOTT
LANCASTER AT PENN SQUARE?
Penn Square Partners has a franchise agreement with Marriott
International. This allows the Partners to use all of the
resources of this leading hotel company including the brand name
“Marriott,” service standards, a worldwide sales and reservation
system, promotion and training. The owners, in turn, have signed
a management agreement with Interstate Hotels & Resorts to run
the day-to-day operations of the hotel on their behalf. Since
Interstate Hotels & Resorts operates more Marriott Hotels than
any other independent company, both Penn Square Partners and
Marriott have confidence that the new hotel will maintain Marriott’s high
standards of quality and service.
HOW DOES THE
MARRIOTT LANCASTER AT
PENN SQUARE RELATE TO THE LANCASTER COUNTY CONVENTION CENTER?
The Marriott Lancaster at Penn Square and the Lancaster County
Convention Center are mutually dependent upon one another for
success. However, each is being developed by a separate entity.
The hotel is being developed by the Redevelopment Authority of
the City of Lancaster (RACL) and Penn Square Partners. The Lancaster
County Convention Center Authority (LCCCA), a joint city/county
authority, is developing the convention center. RACL, Penn Square
Partners, and LCCCA are cooperating actively with many civic
and business organizations, city, county, state and federal government
authorities to make downtown Lancaster a better place for residents
and visitors.
HOW IS THE PUBLIC INVESTED IN THIS
PRIVATE/PUBLIC VENTURE?
The hotel and convention center is truly a private/public
partnership, which is critically important to the economic
health of the city and the county. While the benefits of the
project will accrue to the community at large, there is a
tremendous amount of risk associated with the private component
of this project. Therefore, in an effort to lower the risk and
to encourage private development in a challenging urban setting,
some level of public financial assistance is required. This
is generally accomplished through various sources including
grants and
loans from state of federal agencies. These incentives have
been utilized not only in Lancaster but also in other cities
of comparable size to encourage development in downtowns.
Learn
more about this public-private partnership.
ARE THE PUBLIC SUBSIDIES THAT PENN
SQUARE PARTNERS WILL RECEIVE TYPICAL?
Yes they are. Penn Square Partners, a partnership of two
Lancaster-based companies, has undertaken the risk of developing
and operating an upscale, full-service Marriott hotel in downtown
Lancaster. The
only way that projects like this get built, anywhere in the
United States −
other than cities building and owning hotels directly
− is to use public support to entice
private enterprise to take large risks on projects that
ultimately benefit the public.
Public-Private Partnerships have been in use
in the United States for more than 200 years. This contractual
arrangement between government entities and private companies
for the delivery of services or facilities is used for
water/wastewater, transportation, urban development, and
delivery of social services, to name only a few areas of
application. Today, the average American city works with private
partners to perform 23 out of 65 basic municipal services. The
use of partnerships is increasing because it provides an
effective tool in meeting public needs, improving the quality of
services, and more cost effective. Numerous surveys indicate why
-- governments traditionally realize cost savings of 20 to 50
percent when the private-sector is involved in providing
services. Visit the
National Council for Public-Private Partnerships for more
information and scores of case studies.
WHAT ORGANIZATIONS
ARE INVOLVED IN
THE PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP TO DEVELOP THIS HOTEL AND
CONVENTION CENTER?
Virtually every organization with an interest in the quality
of life and economic vitality of downtown Lancaster has played,
is playing or will play a role, formally or informally, in the
development of the hotel and convention center. Penn Square
Partners, the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Lancaster,
and the Lancaster County Convention Center Authority have been aggressive
and inclusive in their efforts to seek the advice of many different
groups and organizations. These include Lancaster City, Lancaster
City Council, Lancaster County and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
government officials, the Downtown Investment District, the Historic
Preservation Trust of Lancaster County the Redevelopment Authority
of the City of Lancaster, the Pennsylvania Dutch Convention and
Visitors Bureau and the Lancaster Campaign’s “Destination
Downtown”
program.
HOW DO THE AGREEMENTS
BETWEEN RACL, LCCCA,
HIGH, AND PENN SQUARE PARTNERS RELATE TO THE HOTEL’S AND THE
CONVENTION CENTER'S AGREEMENTS WITH INTERSTATE HOTELS & RESORTS?
The joint development agreement, the declaration of condominium,
and the hotel tower lease between RACL, LCCCA, and Penn Square
Partners form the foundation of understanding for
the development and operation of this public/private partnership.
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