Convention Center Hotel Business is Game On

On the heels of the forthcoming Ritz-Carlton and J.W. Marriott hotels in downtown, and the hotel/office tower planned for the site of the Wilshire Grand hotel, the Los Angeles Business Journal rounds up all the other improvements coming to downtown hotels. According to hotel industry consultant Alan Reay, a fancy new hotel makes everyone else have to freshen up. “Whenever you have a major new hotel coming on the market like this, the older hotels have to step up to renovate,” he tells the paper. As for the other hotel work, the LABJ reports the Westin Bonaventure is in the midst of $40 million renovation, but the economy has halted planned renovation work at the Omni Hotel, while forthcoming work is possibly coming to the Hilton Checkers, which just got a tiny $3 million renovation. Not addressed in the story, however, is that mystery hotel that's also supposed to rise at LA Live. Back in December, Ted Tanner, VP of AEG Real Estate said a new hotel would rise at the corner of Olympic and Francisco streets, currently being used as a parking lot for Staples Center. According to Tanner, construction would start in 2009 or 2010, but he didn't say the name of the hotel, which some had guessed would be a Marriott Los Angeles Edition. [LABJ]