Columbus, Ohio, makes room for meetings

Plans for a publicly financed, $160-million hotel to be built across from the Greater Columbus Convention Center include 54 suits, 30,650 square feet of meeting space, and a $10 million parking structure.This addition will allow Columbus, Ohio, to compete with Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver, Kansas City and Indianapolis for 92 percent of the events it would like to host.

The full-service, 500-room hotel, which will add to the city’s supply of 3,200 rooms, is also expected to bring in $2.3 million annually in tax revenue and to be completed in 2012.