Will the Marquis Change Everything?
The big convention center hotel is almost finished. Tons of action will come in as a result. But will other hotels benefit from the big new kid in town? Does a rising tide lift all room service?
Savills hotel experts Tom Baker and Marc Magazine (snapped this morning) tell us that huge convention crowds the Marriott Marquis will bring in once it delivers in May could radiate out to other submarkets in the District, and even to infill locations outside DC. The Marquis "will benefit everybody in the market," Tom says, and the guys add that an uptick for area hotel occupancy could be seen for the next few years, given the growing list of big conventions to be held there.
But while suburban hotels might benefit from the massive Marquis in the short term, the long term may be another question. Since so many other hotels are under construction in DC (CityMarket at O's Cambria Suites, Hyatt Place on New York Avenue, Hilton Garden Inn in Foggy Bottom, to name a few), travelers will have more options downtown, leaving the suburban hotels in a tight spot, Marc and Tom say. However, they add, might be aided by government-related work that's been pushed out there, Tom says.
And you'll never guess the first public event scheduled to be held at new Marriott Marquis! Oh, you did guess: our own Bisnow Lodging Investment Summit ("BLIS") May 13-14, where we'll assemble the hospitality world's biggest figures. We'll even have a keynote from pundit Tucker Carlson to kick things off. More info here.
It's been a busy start to the year for the Savills team, as they just brokered the off-market sale of The Inn at Perry Cabin in St. Michael's for $39.7M, or $500k per key. (You might recognize it as the setting for the main wedding reception in Wedding Crashers.) Marc and Tom repped CAP Acquisitions, also the owner of the exclusive Chatham Bars Inn on Cape Cod, in the acquisition from London-based seller Orient-Express Hotels. Reached for comment this morning, Owen Wilson said he couldn't talk because he was on his way to the Oscars. We felt bad and didn't tell him he had the date wrong.
