The National Baptist Convention, USA held its 132nd Annual Session in Atlanta last September, attracting 20,000 attendees to the city. The group had previously met in Atlanta in 2005. In welcoming the convention, the Atlanta CVB speculated that the group might be surprised by how much Atlanta had changed.
In their seven years away, Atlanta had seen more than $2 billion in new development. The Georgia Aquarium and World of Coca-Cola had opened, and 10 new hotels and more than 60 new restaurants had debuted downtown.
“Attendees will experience a revitalized Atlanta,” William Pate, president and CEO of the Atlanta CVB, declared at the time.
Now, downtown is in the midst of another development phase that promises even more major attractions. Renewal efforts continue for a city with the country’s fourth-largest convention center, the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC). The center has 1.4 million square feet of exhibit space and shares a campus with the 21-acre Centennial Olympic Park and 71,250-seat Georgia Dome, both of which GWCC also manages.
“Atlanta’s compact convention corridor includes 10,000 hotel rooms within a one-mile radius of the GWCC, creating an ideal package for meeting planners,” says Mark Vaughan, executive vice president and chief sales officer of the Atlanta CVB. “Planning a meeting in Atlanta is a walk in the park.”
Last May, the $1.4 billion Maynard H. Jackson International Terminal opened at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Expected to open by year’s end is the $47 million Atlanta Streetcar, which, winding through neighborhoods, will link Olympic Park and the Martin Luther King Jr. Historic District across town.
Vaughan notes that more than $250 million in new hospitality product will open near GWCC, including the College Football Hall of Fame and National Center for Civil and Human Rights.
The 30,000-square-foot National Center for Civil and Human Rights, which broke ground last June, will open in mid-2014 adjacent to the World of Coca-Cola and Georgia Aquarium and will include meeting and performance venues. At press time, construction was about to begin on the 90,000-square-foot College Football Hall of Fame.
In December, the GWCC Authority and the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons announced plans to move forward with a new $1 billion open-air stadium that will feature a retractable roof and replace the Georgia Dome. Aimed at positioning Atlanta to better compete nationally for events, it is expected to open in 2017.
“We had another successful year as the industry continues to experience recovery from the recession. In 2013, Atlanta will host another 19 large citywide conventions, exceeding our historical average,” Vaughan says, pointing out that the city will welcome 5,000 association executives for ASAE’s 2013 Annual Meeting & Expo in August.
Major downtown hotels include the Omni Hotel at CNN Center adjacent to GWCC, Marriott Marquis, Hilton Atlanta, Sheraton Atlanta, Hyatt Regency Atlanta and Westin Peachtree Plaza, which is connected to AmericasMart, a trade and convention facility.PageBreak
The 1,260-room Hyatt Regency Atlanta recently completed its multiyear, $65 million transformation, while the 1,073-room Westin Peachtree Plaza began a $45 million renovation last September.
Meanwhile, the 156-suite Fairfield Inn & Suites Atlanta Downtown, with 4,100 square feet of meeting space, opened last May following a conversion and expansion of the historic Connally Building. Additionally, the former Days Inn Atlanta Downtown (currently Hotel ATL) recently finished a $25 million renovation and will become an Aloft with 242 rooms and 2,000 square feet of meeting space.
To the north, Midtown is packed with off-site meeting options, including the historic Fox Theatre and the Woodruff Arts Center, which encompasses institutions such as the Alliance Theater, the High Museum of Art and the Atlanta Symphony.
The cultural enclave is also home to the Margaret Mitchell House & Museum, the 180-acre Piedmont Park and Georgia Tech, which has two IACC-certified meeting facilities.
The 191-room Hotel Midtown was acquired by Noble Investment Group and will reopen as the Hyatt Atlanta Midtown in April following a $21 million redevelopment. In December, the new dual-branded, 136-room Hilton Garden Inn and 92-suite Homewood Suites by Hilton Midtown opened with more than more than 3,500 square feet of meeting space.
Farther north, the upscale Buckhead district is home to the Atlanta History Center, more than 5,000 hotel rooms and the shopping of Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza, where the $12 million, 35,000-square-foot Legoland Discovery Center recently opened.
Major hotels include The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead, JW Marriott Hotel Buckhead, Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead, St. Regis Atlanta, The Westin Buckhead Atlanta and the InterContinental Buckhead.
Last year, the 127-room Mansion on Peachtree in Buckhead was rebranded the Mandarin Oriental Atlanta, while the 371-room JW Marriott completed a $12 million renovation that included the addition of 2,300 square feet of meeting space for a total of 23,300 square feet.
Outlying Options
At Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, the new 1.2 million-square-foot international terminal, with its 12-gate Concourse F, connects to the existing international concourse, creating a 40-gate complex. In December, the terminal achieved LEED Gold certification.
Adjacent to the airport is the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC), the state’s second-largest convention center, with 400,000 square feet of rentable space. Nearby are 5,000 hotel rooms, including a 403-room Marriott headquarters hotel and a 147-room adjacent SpringHill Suites. The free 1.6-mile ATL SkyTrain, opened three years ago, connects the airport and GICC.
The 142-room Hotel Indigo Atlanta Airport College Park, with 2,800 square feet of event space, opened in July 2012.
The airport area will also be home to Porsche’s new $100 million North American headquarters. Expected to open in 2014, it will include the Porsche Customer and Driving Experience Center, featuring a 1.6-mile test track, a restaurant and a store.PageBreak
Peachtree City, a master planned community of villages 30 miles southwest of downtown, offers a number of meeting facilities ranging from country clubs to museums. It also has two major meetings properties, both IACC-certified: the 250-room Wyndham Peachtree Conference Center, with 30,000 square feet of meeting space, and the 233-room Dolce Atlanta-Peachtree, with 61,000 square feet of meeting space.
Northwest of Atlanta, Cobb County is home to the Cobb Galleria Centre, which has 320,000 square feet of event space. It is connected to the Renaissance Waverly and is part of an 88-acre complex that includes the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre and stores.
Cobb County underwent a rebranding in November 2011, introducing the new slogan, “Atlanta’s Sweet Spot.”
“We have been working hard to make the Cobb Travel and Tourism brand come alive, not only with our words and actions, but with our partnerships, advertisements and media relations. Our new name, look and website make it easier for consumers and meeting planners to understand exactly who we are and the services we provide,” says Holly Bass, president and CEO of Cobb Travel & Tourism.
Opportunities, she adds, are significant. Cobb Galleria Centre completed a makeover, including its 25,000-square-foot ballroom, last June, and Renaissance Waverly is undergoing major renovations. The 149-room Hyatt House Atlanta/Cobb Galleria is slated to open this spring.
The Hilton Atlanta/Marietta Hotel & Conference Center, featuring golf and 25,000 square feet of meeting space, is located in Marietta, Cobb’s county seat.
The county is also home to Six Flags Over Georgia and Six Flags White Water, both of which will launch new attractions in late spring.
Northeast of Atlanta, Gwinnett County has more than 10,000 hotel rooms. Its top convention facility, Gwinnett Center and Arena in Duluth, features a 50,000-square-foot exhibit hall, a 21,600-square-foot ballroom, a 700-seat performing arts center and a 13,000-seat arena.
In November, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners voted to begin negotiations with a developer for a proposed 300-room Marriott headquarters hotel at the center. It was the only proposal submitted that required no public funding to an RFP request issued in December 2011.
Last July, the 129-room Holiday Inn Atlanta Gwinnett Place, about one mile from Gwinnett Center, was reflagged Wyndham Garden Duluth following a renovation.
Gwinnett also encompasses Lake Lanier Islands Resort near Buford, which includes the 287-room Legacy Lodge & Conference Center, with 23,000 square feet of IACC-approved meeting space.
Another meetings choice is Chateau Elan Winery and Resort at Braselton. It includes 75 acres of vineyards, a 275-room inn, a 25,000-square-foot conference center and 63 holes of championship golf. Last year, the property reopened its spa following a $3 million renovation. The new spa features 14 guest suites, a restaurant and 35 treatment rooms.
East of Atlanta, DeKalb County boasts Georgia’s biggest tourist draw: the five-square-mile Stone Mountain Park, an 825-foot high granite outcropping featuring carvings of Confederate leaders.
Stone Mountain attractions include a railroad that takes visitors around the mountain’s base, gondolas that travel to the top, a 300-passenger riverboat, a seasonal snow park and the new Geyser Towers, where climbers maneuver through multiple levels of suspended rope bridges and net tunnels.
The park also boasts the 311-room Evergreen Marriott Conference Resort with 40,000 square feet of meeting space.
Decatur is DeKalb’s county seat. In historic downtown Decatur, the former 179-room Holiday Inn Decatur Conference Center became the Courtyard Atlanta Decatur Downtown/Emory last year.
The county is also home to Emory University, which features the 325-room, IACC-certified Emory Conference Center Hotel. In November, the property completed a renovation of the center’s 32,000-square-foot meeting facility.
Tony Bartlett is a frequent contributor to Meetings Focus South.
