HomeMy WebLinkAboutM-86-0623a, 6
CITY OF MIAMI, FLORIDA
INTER -OFFICE MEMORANDUM
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members
of the City Commission
Cesar H. Odio
FROM: City Manager 0
DATE: J U L 1 81986
55
SUBJECT: Interim Exhibition
Space
REFERENCES:
ENCLOSURES:
FILE:
The hotel industry in the City of Miami has long urged that a
downtown exhibit hall be constructed to attract mid -size
conventions. Due to the increasing competition from other
destinations that have built, and are in the process of
increasing the size of their convention facilities, the number of
conventions that we will be able to attract without an exhibit
hall will continue to decrease.
Miami Beach is in the process of enlarging their exhibit hall,
which will enhance our hotel occupancy downtown for the larger
size conventions but the distance and cost of shuttling
conventioneers from Miami Beach to downtown is causing the
downtown hotels to be eliminated from participatirLg in the mid-
size groups.
The Miami Convention Center lacks the necessary exhibit and
banquet facilities to host these conventions and Coconut Grove
Exhibition Hall lacks the proper meeting rooms and banquet
facilities to host these groups under one roof. A small exhibit
hall (30,000 sq. ft.) is being negotiated with the developers of
the Knight Center to enhance its ability to attract more groups
within one year, but until a permanent site for a proper downtown
exhibit hall is found, an interim solution to the exhibition
space problem in downtown would be to add meeting rooms to the
existing Coconut Grove Exhibition Center so that it would become
a complete convention center with banquet, meeting and exhibition
space under one roof.
Increasing the Miami Convention Center' exhibit space, and the
addition of meeting rooms at Coconut Grove Exhibit Center, will
make those facilities more marketable, and thus reduce or
eliminate the operating deficits through increasing revenues.
It is suggested that up to $7,000,000 from the Convention
Development Tax be allocated for the purpose of adding
approximately 55,000 sq. ft. of meeting room space, upgrading the
existing exhibition space and building banquet facilities at the
Coconut Grove Exhibition Center.
This will be scheduled as a discussion item on the July 24, 1986
agenda.
%6-623.
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