Los Angeles tourism is way up, setting new records both in the number of people visiting the city (42.2 million in 2013) and in the number of hotel rooms they occupied while they were here. With numbers like that, it's probably smart that the city wants to get 5,000 new hotel rooms (pdf) built by 2020—4,000 of them in the "Sports and Entertainment District" around LA Live (4,000 rooms is roughly equivalent to nearly four and a half Wilshire Grands.) The rooms are sorely needed in the area, apparently; LA Convention Center manager Bud Ovrom says the JW Marriott is "is running 95% occupancy, with a lot of days turning away business." The horror. A recent meeting of hotel developers attended by, among others, LA's Chief Administrative Officer Miguel Santana (he's identified as "Michael" in the article) outlined what the city is willing to do to get those new hotel rooms up and running.
They've offered "up to 50% of the property specific revenues from transient occupancy taxes, sales takes, property taxes and the like," but there are some caveats, says Santana—reasonable things like asking that developers employ union workers working at living wages, plus give the city a good deal of involvement, like a voice in the design of new buildings.
· JMBM's Hotel Developer Forum: LA wants 4,000 new hotel rooms stat! [JMBM]
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