New Convention Center, Marriott Hotel To Open In Lancaster, PA

LANCASTER, PA— The former Watt & Shand department store building here is officially being converted into a 300-room Marriott hotel adjacent to the city’s soon-to-be-developed convention center facility. The new $45 million Lancaster Marriott, which is slated to open in 2004, will be managed by Interstate Hotels Corp. of Pittsburgh and developed by a local team from Penn Square Partners. “The development timeline for the project is very tricky because you have a private hotel tied in with a public convention center— both need to be constructed at the same time,” said Glyn Aeppel, evp/business development and acquisitions for Interstate. “The timing is in the hands of the local officials.” The exact dates for the groundbreaking ceremony and grand opening are expected to be determined within the next few weeks. Currently, developers are working on the hotel’s design, which will tie-in the historic Watt & Shand Building. “The old department store used to serve as the focal point for Lancaster years ago,” said Aeppel. She added that the hotel will include the exterior of the Watt & Shand building, while gutting the interiors and adding an additional building behind it. The historic building will serve as the lobby and entrance to the hotel. “The purpose of the development is to provide a cornerstone in the downtown revitalization project here. Hopefully the hotel will be a catalyst for future development,” she said. The $30 million, publicly-funded convention center immediately adjacent to the Watt & Shand Building is slated to hold 75,000 square feet of meeting space and serve both local and regional groups. “The city spent a lot of time analyzing the size of the market and what it could support. It’s not a huge building; a lot of hotels have 75,000 square feet of meeting space. But I think its appropriate,” Aeppel stated. Though the hotel will be the first full-service property to open in Lancaster in more than 25 years, Aeppel said Interstate “[doesn’t] want to eat anyone else’s lunch. Our plan is to work as a team with the existing hotels here so everyone benefits from the convention center.” In addition to serving local corporations with headquarters in Lancaster, such as Armstrong World Industries and Fulton Financial Corp., the convention center is also expected to draw business from surrounding cities like Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Harrisburg. “We also expect heavy tourist business during certain parts of the year. Lancaster is very seasonal. It receives about 5 million tourists from May to October,” said Aeppel.