Representatives from the Monona Terrace and the Judge Doyle Square development project presented at a city meeting Monday the revenue generating opportunities a proposed downtown hotel could bring to Madison by drawing new clients to host conventions at the Terrace.
Judge Doyle Square encompasses two downtown blocks between Capitol Square and Lake Monona.
According to Ald. Mike Verveer, District 4, a new hotel is the only stipulation in the Judge Doyle request for proposals that developers must include in the designs they submit, due April 30. The committee will then begin the interview process and select one design to recommend to Common Council for approval in either July or August.
According to a report prepared by Madison accounting firm Baker-Tilly, the total number of conventions and conferences booked at Monona Terrace increased by approximately 115 percent from 2000 to 2002.
Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center Executive Director Gregg McManners attributed the booking and subsequent revenue increase to the Hilton Madison Monona Terrace hotel opening at 9 E. Wilson Street in 2002.
McManners said a new hotel on Judge Doyle Square would combat the current problem of limited hotel space to accommodate customers who are inquiring to book conventions and conferences at the Terrace. He added conventions and conferences make up 10 percent of the Terrace’s annual event booking and 50 percent of its yearly revenue.
“The fact of the matter is we’re underserved by our current hotel as it presently stands,” McManners said. “It gives us no room for growth, and in fact, it leaves a lot of attendees trying to find a place of the quality and quantity that the Hilton can provide.”
