A: The project development team is led by Garfield Public/Private, LLC (GPP) from Dallas, Texas. GPP has over 25 years of experience in developing and financing headquarters hotels that support conference centers, convention centers, and other public facilities.  GPP is responsible for coordinating the work of planning, design, construction, and financial service professionals and incorporating those elements into a strategic business plan which will serve as a complete blueprint for the development.  GPP will implement the plan through pre-construction, and construction phases to opening of the facility.

A: Based on a study of the Jefferson City convention and hotel market completed by CBRE, Inc., a global leader in commercial real estate advisory services, there is significant market demand in Jefferson City for a modern facility to host multiple day conferences, and meetings for statewide professional associations, government agencies, and other group meetings.

Jefferson City, in addition to being the seat of state government, is home to more than 125 statewide trade associations, and many businesses which desire to host conferences and meetings in the capital city. Many of these groups have previously hosted events in Jefferson City, however, in recent years many events have been moved to other cities due to the loss of meeting space with the remaining facilities having insufficient size and quality to accommodate the needs of these groups. A new conference center with larger, modern meeting and exhibit space along with an attached full-service hotel is needed to accommodate the demand that the market desires.

A: The new conference center will attract events back to Jefferson City as well as attract new events that Jefferson City has not previously been able to accommodate.  The increased group travel in Jefferson City is expected to generate $38 million in annual spending, creating 333 new jobs in Cole County.  Additionally, $203 million in spending and 504 jobs are expected to be created during the project construciton. Local businesses will see increased patronage with visitors supporitng downtown restaurants and shops, translating to higher tax revenues to fund city services and infrastructure.  

The project will serve as a venue to host local events and includes a modern parking facility providing accessible spaces for the community and fostering regional economic growth and connectivity. 

A: Jefferson City currently has 14 hotels with a total of 1,382 rooms. In the past 10 years, Jefferson City has only net increased 20 new rooms to the city’s hotel inventory.

As of November 2015, Jefferson City lost 22,000 sq. ft. of meeting space when the Truman Hotel closed, which coincides with the downturn in conference & convention event bookings. With the development of Holiday Inn & Suites (2019) and Courtyard by Marriott (2020), 5,178 sq. ft. of meeting space was added between the two new properties, bringing our net loss to 16,822 sq. ft.

A: Based on the anticipated market demand, the current design concept includes the following project program:

Conference Center
•  16,500 SF Ballroom
•    5,500 SF Jr. Ballroom
•    6,600 SF Breakout Rooms
•       750 SF Boardroom
29,350 SF of Conference Space

Additional 10,000 SF of flexible event space

Hotel
•  204 room full-service nationally branded hotel
•  Lobby restaurant/lounge & café
•  Terrace restaurant/lounge
•  Amenities such as fitness center, swimming pool, and business center

A: There are many events held annually in Jefferson City which sell out most if not all hotel rooms in the city driving overflow demand to Columbia, Lake of the Ozarks and Rolla. These events include Skills USA Missouri, Lincoln University commencement and homecoming, MSHSAA State Track Championships, and numerous sporting events. Adding hotel room supply will allow more of the participants to stay in the city, increasing the economic impact of these events.

The proposed conference center will also accommodate smaller meetings, banquets, tradeshows, live entertainment, fund raisers, weddings/receptions, and other community events.

A:  The city recently completed a structural evaluation of the existing Madison Street Parking Garage which determined the condition of the 600-space structure has deteriorated to the point that the parking garage must be replaced.

A downtown parking study was also completed to analyze the existing parking supply, the existing parking utilization, estimate the additional parking required to serve the new conference center and hotel, and recommend the size of the new parking garage to accommodate the current parking demand as well as the new demand generated by the development.

The parking study indicates the existing peak demand in the parking garage is 383 spaces.  The estimated parking demand generated by the proposed conference center & hotel is 360 spaces.  By better utilizing existing available parking and thus reduce the parking required to be supplied in the new parking garage, the parking study recomends sizing the parking garage to accommodate approximately 690 parking spaces. 

A: The existing Madison Street parking garage will be in service until the full financing package for the project is in place, and construction of the new facility is assured.  Construction of the new parking garage will begin immediately following demolition of the existing parking garage to minimize the time the garage is unavailable. The exact timing of demolition and construction duration has not yet been determined.

The downtown parking study showed that there is sufficient capacity in existing on-street parking and surface parking lots to accommodate parking displaced during the conference center and parking garage construction.  To mitigate inconvenience during construction the city will consider implementing additional strategies such as extending time limits of on-street parking, utilizing private off-street parking lots, and temporary shuttles.

A: With conceptual design complete and conceptual development budget established, the city and GPP have begun collaborating to create a public/private financing structure which identifies the capital sources needed to construct the project.  These sources include existing city parking parking and lodging tax funds, existing grant funds, and bonds secured by revenue from the operation of the hotel, conference center, and parking garage, and the existing 4% city lodging tax dedicated to the conference center.  Additional funding may come from tax abatements, TIF/CID mechanisms, partnership with the State of Missouri, hotel brand contribution, licensing of naming rights and product suppliers, and philanthropic contributions.  The financing structure will be finalized during the pre-construction phase.

A: In 2011 the voters of Jefferson City approved implementing a 7% lodging tax on all hotel stays within the city.  Three percent of the lodging tax funds the Jefferson City Convention and Visitors Bureau operations and marketing, while 4% is dedicated to fund the construction of the conference center.

 The conference center fund balance is currently $9.5 million and generates approximately $900,000 per year. Collection of the lodging tax is authorized until 2035.

A:  Conceptual planning, design, and development of the pre-development business plan were completed in 2024 and submitted to the city in January 2025.  With city council approval, in early 2025 GPP and the development team will initiate pre-construction services which includes continued architectural and engineering design, aligning with the project budget at each phase, final construction documents, preparation of contractor guaranteed maximum price, finalizing capital financing, determining hotel brand and management structure, further development of the business plan, and finalizing operating and ownership agreements.  This pre-construction phase is anticipated to last approximately 12 months, with completion expected by late 2025.  Construction is anticipated to begin in early 2026, lasting approximately 24 months, with the conference center opening as soon as spring 2028.