Dr Funky
October 2nd, 2006, 02:16 PM
http://www.niagara-gazette.com/local/local_story_274214039.html
BUSINESS: A new ‘Crowne’ for downtown
Niagara Falls will soon have a thoroughly renovated hotel that should rival the original facility once considered a centerpiece of an ambitious urban renewal program launched in the 1960s.
It was known as the Niagara Hilton, a unique 400-room hotel linked by a tunnel to the convention center across the street and by a covered walkway to a shopping mall a short block away. Over the years it slipped into a state that left it less attractive to the convention and tourist business.
Now at the dawn of another era, the original Niagara Hilton is undergoing extensive renovations estimated at upwards of $15 million.
In early November it will be opened as the Crowne Plaza & Suites, with 392 rooms, 14,000 square feet of meeting space, a fitness center overlooking a poolside Palm Court, and a glitzy sports bar bordering Old Falls Street, the pedestrian mall. Mark Bibb is senior vice president and general manager of the hotel.
Among other features of the renovated facility will be the first Starbucks cafe in the Cataract City. It will occupy 2,125-square feet of storefront at Old Falls (the pedestrian mall) and Third streets. The project was reported in the Niagara Gazette several months ago but company officials at the time declined to release any timeframe. A spokesman says the cafe should open in December.
Namwest, the parent company of the hotel chain, was launched in early 2004 as a result of a joint venture between a 15-year-old Phoenix, Ariz., area construction and development company and Namco Capital Group Inc., a major 25-year-old real estate equity and debt financial service company based in Los Angeles.
Namest and Sentry Hospitality have formed an alliance that focuses on buying and constructing four-star resorts, conference centers and residential clubs.
The New York City-based Sentry is considered one of the fastest growing hospitality development and management companies in the U.S.
“Sentry Hospitality is built upon a set of core values which are the essential and enduring tenets of our organization,” said Mark Magarity, president and chief executive officer.
In addition to the Conference Center Niagara Falls and the future Crowne Plaza, the company also has management contracts at the Cal-Neva Resort & Spa, Lake Tahoe, Nev., and for the Riverwinds Golf, Conference Resort and Spa, West Deptford, N.J., set to open in 2007.
Earlier, Mayor Vince Anello said, “We need a hotel like Crowne Plaza if we are to be successful in securing conventions here. It’s that type of facility (at least three stars) that will make the city appealing as a convention site.”
The pending name change will be the fourth since the building opened as the Niagara Hilton in the mid-1970s. Subsequently it was affiliated with the Radisson and Clarion chains before it became the Holiday Inn Select.
BUSINESS: A new ‘Crowne’ for downtown
Niagara Falls will soon have a thoroughly renovated hotel that should rival the original facility once considered a centerpiece of an ambitious urban renewal program launched in the 1960s.
It was known as the Niagara Hilton, a unique 400-room hotel linked by a tunnel to the convention center across the street and by a covered walkway to a shopping mall a short block away. Over the years it slipped into a state that left it less attractive to the convention and tourist business.
Now at the dawn of another era, the original Niagara Hilton is undergoing extensive renovations estimated at upwards of $15 million.
In early November it will be opened as the Crowne Plaza & Suites, with 392 rooms, 14,000 square feet of meeting space, a fitness center overlooking a poolside Palm Court, and a glitzy sports bar bordering Old Falls Street, the pedestrian mall. Mark Bibb is senior vice president and general manager of the hotel.
Among other features of the renovated facility will be the first Starbucks cafe in the Cataract City. It will occupy 2,125-square feet of storefront at Old Falls (the pedestrian mall) and Third streets. The project was reported in the Niagara Gazette several months ago but company officials at the time declined to release any timeframe. A spokesman says the cafe should open in December.
Namwest, the parent company of the hotel chain, was launched in early 2004 as a result of a joint venture between a 15-year-old Phoenix, Ariz., area construction and development company and Namco Capital Group Inc., a major 25-year-old real estate equity and debt financial service company based in Los Angeles.
Namest and Sentry Hospitality have formed an alliance that focuses on buying and constructing four-star resorts, conference centers and residential clubs.
The New York City-based Sentry is considered one of the fastest growing hospitality development and management companies in the U.S.
“Sentry Hospitality is built upon a set of core values which are the essential and enduring tenets of our organization,” said Mark Magarity, president and chief executive officer.
In addition to the Conference Center Niagara Falls and the future Crowne Plaza, the company also has management contracts at the Cal-Neva Resort & Spa, Lake Tahoe, Nev., and for the Riverwinds Golf, Conference Resort and Spa, West Deptford, N.J., set to open in 2007.
Earlier, Mayor Vince Anello said, “We need a hotel like Crowne Plaza if we are to be successful in securing conventions here. It’s that type of facility (at least three stars) that will make the city appealing as a convention site.”
The pending name change will be the fourth since the building opened as the Niagara Hilton in the mid-1970s. Subsequently it was affiliated with the Radisson and Clarion chains before it became the Holiday Inn Select.