Which hotel chain will be coming to downtown Warren?
Comfort Suites, according to a major mover in the hotel/convention center project.
Tim King, a principal with the Pennsylvania Alliance for Cooperative Innovation, revealed that Huff Hospitality Services, operators of a dozen hotels and convention centers in Pennsylvania, plans to build a Comfort Suites as part of the project.
King made the announcement during Friday morning's Eggs and Issues presentation at the Conewango Club.
According to King, the city of Warren put out a request for proposals (RFP) to companies interested in operating the proposed hotel, convention center and accompanying the restaurant. Huff Services was secured to operate the hotel.
Comfort Suites is one of several hotel brands owned by Choice Hotels International, based in Silver Springs, Md. The company's brands include Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality Inn, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites, Mainstay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, Rodeway Inn and Econo Lodge.
King said that the project hasn't secured a restaurant, as of yet.
He expected that would change in the near future due to the state recently awarding the hotel and convention center nearly $3 million in funding.
"The restaurants wanted to wait and see if this was really going to happen," King said. "Well, as of Monday, they got their answer."
King said that project planners have allotted $450,000 toward equipping an 8,000 square foot kitchen as a "sweetener" to secure a restaurant for the project.
"That's a good incentive," King said, "being able to tell someone you have $450,000 in capitalization to equip a kitchen for them."
According to King, the convention center's 7,000 square foot main hall will seat 400 to 500 people. There will also be room to accommodate functions in the convention center's lobby and upstairs rooms.
King said he believed the entire project could be completed within 14 to 18 months, once construction begins. "So if we got started in March in the first quarter, we're looking at the summer of 2010."