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. The facility will open in
spring 2009.
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 is being restored to its
former glory and, along with new construction, the property will
be converted into a 21st century, 300-room, upscale, full-service hotel
and convention center with a restaurant and bar, lounges,
ballrooms, meeting space, exhibit areas and so forth. The hotel’s design will be respectful of
the streetscape that is uniquely Lancaster.
WHO WILL OWN
THE MARRIOTT LANCASTER
AT PENN SQUARE?
The hotel will be owned by the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Lancaster and leased to Penn Square Partners, who holds the Marriott franchise.
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.
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.
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