Renovation of a conference / convention center in Cleveland, Ohio. Completed plans call for the renovation of a conference / convention center.

https://www.cleveland.com/opinion/2022/05/global-center-renovation-helps-expand-clevelands-travel-business-builds-on-proven-impact-david-gilbert.html CLEVELAND -- Cleveland's travel industry is poised to return to its position as a growth sector, despite the two-year pandemic. An important growth driver is the ability to host events and conventions at Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland. Opened in 2013, HCCC has hosted 1,500 conventions and events with nearly 2 million attendees, bringing $1 billion of outside spending to the region's economy and contributing to the creation of 5,000 hospitality jobs. But a lot has changed since the complex opened. According to Conventions, Sports & Leisure International (CSL), which studied our convention center in the context of industry demands, event planners now require different types of space - they need larger, flexible rooms that accommodate modular setups; outdoor space; and more natural light. They need technologically advanced space that allows hybrid attendance and engaging on-site experiences. They won't settle for less as they book events through 2030. To remain competitive and attract these events, we must expand the convention center complex. This investment will strengthen downtown Cleveland and support the region. Now is the time to do it. Competitors like Columbus and Louisville are expanding. And, in 2024, we will host the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). According to ASAE, about 20% of ASAE attendees will book an event in the host city within five years - if the host venue meets their needs. We can efficiently and cost-effectively expand the complex to showcase it during ASAE by fully using the largely vacant West Block building, also known as the Global Center for Health Innovation, as part of the Convention Center. The structure, which is fully attached to and integrated with the Convention Center, frequently serves as the complex's "front door." The atrium and junior ballroom on the West Block's first floor were built as part of the convention center's meeting space. An expansion of the first-floor meeting space will add the large, divisible rooms event planners demand and of which our competitors already have more. The former Medical Mart occupied floors two through four, space that can easily be adapted into flexible meeting space, with outdoor access and natural light. The project would cost an estimated $46 million, about half of which is being asked of Cuyahoga County. This modest $23 million investment is the best solution to two pressing needs for the county: expansion of convention center space and solidifying the West Block building's future. Logistically, it would be expensive and complicated to disconnect the West Block from the Convention Center complex and sell it to a private entity, as some have advocated. The structures share many systems, including mechanical operations, data services and security monitoring. Separating the buildings would take away the first-floor meeting space, reducing Cleveland's competitiveness and leading to lost business. This expansion of and investment in the Convention Center complex will be a catalyst for regional economic growth, creating 490 hospitality jobs, $18.4 million in wages and more than $3 million in tax revenue annually. The CSL study determined that this investment could realize a 23% increase - or $21 million annually - in direct spending by visitors, compared to our pre-pandemic three-year average. If we do nothing, we stand to lose 9% ($7.8 million a year) in event-related spending. Here's the bottom line. While the Medical Mart concept didn't succeed as many hoped it would, we cannot allow that past to determine our future. The Convention Center is a regional asset that re-energized Cleveland's meetings and conventions industry, made us more competitive and created jobs. Failure to invest in it now undermines the $465 million investment made in the Convention Center and the people working in hospitality that rely on a strong convention presence. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SMG, as managing agent ("SMG") for the Huntington Convention Center of Cleveland (the "HCCC") and the Global Center for Health and Innovation (the "GCHI") on behalf of the Cuyahoga County Convention Facilities Development Corporation ("CCCFDC"), is seeking to retain a firm to provide Design-Build services under a bridging design-build project delivery system for the project described in Exhibit A attached hereto (the "Project"). In addition to a Project description, Exhibit A contains a description of the scope of services required (the "Services"). Each firm submitting a response to this RFQ is hereinafter referred to as a "Responding Firm." The HCCC (located at 300 Lakeside Ave E, Cleveland, Ohio) and GCHI (located at 1 St. Clair Avenue NE, Cleveland, Ohio) are managed by SMG as agent for CCCFDC. (SMG and CCCFDC are collectively referred to herein as "Owner.") Project Management Consultants LLC ("PMC") has been engaged as Owner's project representative, with Ellis Katz as the point of contact. All comments, questions or requests for information concerning this Request for Qualifications (and the corresponding procedures and requirements) must be addressed in writing, via email to the following: Project Management Consultants LLC Attention: Ellis Katz Email: Ellis.Katz@AboutPMC.com If a Responding Firm is unable to deliver its Response by email, it should immediately contact Ellis Katz at (216) 566-5853 prior to the Response Due Date for further delivery instructions