The City of College Station received the first phase of a Convention Center study last night conducted by a respected, independent consulting firm, Hunden Partners.

The first phase was a "demand" study. The study concludes there is significant demand. I had conducted a fractional analysis compared to this over a year ago and concluded the same thing. We are losing trade show business, ticketed entertainment events and more for a lack of space. The data are pretty clear that we are too dynamic and growing and exciting to not have a Convention Center.

All of that said, I as one member of council will not support the City of CS "going it alone" on this. Everyone in Brazos County, from all 3 governments to Blinn and Tamu and every single school system, public or private, would reap the rewards of having the space for our own needs and the benefit of the significant economic impact that would come from it.

Therefore, I encourage folks to go to the city's website and download the study which was publicly shown last night. Perhaps someday, we can come together as a community and rally the intergovernmental support needed to make it a reality.

Until then, the data is out there that I believe proves up and answers the question, "is there real demand for a convention and events center in Aggieland?"

I believe the answer is "yes."

Respectfully yours,

Yancy '95

I'll concede the demand is there. My concerns are

A) Should the city be in this business?
B) Will it operate at a profit?

I could be convinced on A if B is a certainty.

Data says there is a demand. Ok.
Data also says that the VAST majority want lower taxes. In fact, I would argue that number is WAY higher than your number.

So...what is being done about that?

A convention center should make money for the city...and most do. Especially the ones that are well run.

So theoretically, a convention center should be a tax benefit. Meaning it should yield more income than it costs and that in turn should be a reason for lower taxes on citizens.

The reality is that the CAD would just love that additional money and not lower other tax revenue. But that's not a disfunction of a city owned convention center...that's the ongoing disfunction of central appraisal districts.

You have a vested interest in having a Convention Center, correct?

Name one municipally owned and operated convention center, ideally one in a similarly situated city like Waco or something, that you believe is well run and an exemplar of what you want College Station to build.

FYI - I would LOVE to see what "make a profit" means for a Convention Center, because according to this article, "Profit is a fungible term for convention centers".
https://iavm.org/convention-centers-view-of-success/

In other words - they fudge the books and call it "profit" all while saying, but but but...it benefits the COMMUNITY!

We need the consultants to look at this. I hear the guys COCS used to conclude that the Northgate parking garage was going to be like a gold mine are still available. The consultants used for the previous convention center projects undertakings at Wolf Pin Drainage ditch, Joint Venture with Don Adam on University Drive and the Chimney Hill debacle are likely available also. COCS has a long history of convention center proposal failures, and for that I am grateful. We are only out a few million, if they had been brought to fruition I believe it would has been a few million lost per year. We already have the Expo running a $1.2M/yr deficit COCS really needs in on this action.

I went to Hunden Partners site.

So they do Economic Feasibility studies.

But they also offer services for "making your vision a reality"

Sorry, Bob... love you on everything you post here except this push for a convention center.

A consultant that does an economic feasibility study but also offers services for if that city starts doing what they recommend has inherent conflict of interest and skin in the game to provide an answer of "OH YES, College Station is missing out and needs this".

How much did the city pay for the study?

The study (thank you, Councilman Yancy):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F67wmFD_dAliS7SpMiYB3TlACoj8cm-F/view?usp=sharing

I would like to point out that page 10 indicates the revenues lost as a result of "the 62 events lost due to space constraints" is around $13.2 million across 2022-2024.

That is $4.4 million per year. Less than half of the average Chic-Fil-A's annual revenue. If you calculate out the sales tax revenue lost according to the feasibility consultants we are talking about something on the order of $66k (4.4 million x 1.5%) in annual tax revenue we are missing out on.

If they are talking about anything that costs more than $66k in O&M shortfall and amortized CapEx, this is a loser for taxpayers.

The proposal for a municipally owned and operated convention center was always and will always be a loser for taxpayers. Any further time spent on this is a distraction at best. Any further money spent on studying boondoggle feasibility is taxpayer money wasted.

Hunden Partners entire business model is based on having cities build more stuff.

I would love to know how many of these projects they advised cities NOT to build?
Gonna bet 0.

tu ag said:

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Hunden Partners entire business model is based on having cities build more stuff.

I would love to know how many of these projects they advised cities NOT to build?
Gonna bet 0.

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I think Dime Box got shot down for one in the 80s… just kiddin. I got to bed at 3am.

Y'all be good.

Yancy out

My question is why do we care if by chance there truly is a demand?
Why do we need to fill that need? Our town is already at max on roadways, hotel occupancy, restaurants and so on.
Why encourage more out of control growth.
I vote we discourage growth.

All these studies are done to give cover to leaders to do what the want to do….. then if it doesn't work they can say "but the consultants said it was a great idea !"

The demand is only relevant if it is coming from those that would pay for it.

A convention center is nothing more than a retail/hotel/restaurant subsidy.

This study reads like a business plan. Where is the study on how a convention center will impact citizen qol and how many additional public funds will be required to restore it? That's what the city should be concerned with, even if a private company was bringing a convention center.

This is precisely why the city needs to get out and stay out. They are already spending money on a feasibility business plan instead of answering the most basic question of how will this benefit the citizens. Because it wont.

The only source of funding for the city should be the citizens. Money coming from elsewhere leads to diverging and conflicting goals.

Stop shopping and you will stop buying.

Quote:

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Stop shopping and you will stop buying.

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We need this painted on the side of city hall.

COCS leaders have proven they can not even competently buy empty land and empty mall sites. Why do you think you can run this at a profit? If a new convention center can't cover the debt service and the operating costs, then do not build it.

AgProgrammer said:

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Keep in mind, businesses also pay a rather large portion of the tax base, so increased opportunities for them are also a consideration in how that money should be reinvested into the city.

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Yes, this is the root of the problem. You cannot serve two masters.

Brian Alg said:

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Name one municipally owned and operated convention center, ideally one in a similarly situated city like Waco or something, that you believe is well run and an exemplar of what you want College Station to build.

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There is one in Waco and they turned over the management to a private national company SM Global to "try to boast Events and Revenue."

At the city council meeting last night one of the council members commented that the convention center in conroe is losing millions of dollars annually.

Comparing the opportunities for a convention center here by illustrating the somewhat successful center in Waco might not be a valid comparison.

The Waco area has a population of about 340,000 persons and we have about 280,000 but probably 30,000 or so are college students.

Also, Waco has a lot more to market to groups considering locating a destination for conferences.

Waco has....

Fixer upper silo, Magnolia restaurants
Restaurants along river
River walk
Sunset River dinner cruise
Zoo
Mammoth natural museum
Water park
Dr. Pepper museum
Texas Ranger Museum
Texas Sports Hall of Fame
Balcones distillery and four vineyards
Heart of Texas speedway
Large lake around rolling hills
and....

We have Northgate and The Chicken
Bush Library
winery
?

Sounds great. Post Oak Convention Center. Throw in some retail to help make ends meet. Maybe bring in a hotel to help fill up some of that empty mall space. We could have a major destination right here.

AgProgrammer said:

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Not directly, but about the same as any hotel, restaurant, retail shop, construction company, etc…or lots of other business owners in area do.

Keep in mind, businesses also pay a rather large portion of the tax base, so increased opportunities for them are also a consideration in how that money should be reinvested into the city.

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If it is such a boom of increased opportunities for businesses, why don't the businesses that will benefit form a partnership and build a private convention center and, as Waco had to do, hire a management company to run it?

woodiewood said:

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Brian Alg said:

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Name one municipally owned and operated convention center, ideally one in a similarly situated city like Waco or something, that you believe is well run and an exemplar of what you want College Station to build.

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There is one in Waco and they turned over the management to a private national company SM Global to try to boast Events and Revenue.

At the city council meeting last night one of the council members commented that the convention center in conroe is losing millions of dollars annually.

Comparing the opportunities for a convention center here by illustrating the somewhat successful center in Waco might not be a valid comparison.

The Waco area has a population of about 340,000 persons and we have about 280,000 but probably 30,000 or so are college students.

Also, Waco has a lot more to market to groups considering locating a destination for conferences.

Waco has....

Fixer upper silo, Magnolia restaurants
Restaurants along river
River walk
Sunset River dinner cruise
Zoo
Mammoth natural museum
Water park
Dr. Pepper museum
Texas Ranger Museum
Texas Sports Hall of Fame
Balcones distillery and four vineyards
Heart of Texas speedway
Large lake around rolling hills
and....

We have Northgate and The Chicken
Bush Library
winery
?

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I recall the Perryman report saying bad things were in store for Waco is a certain conference change happened.

Reports commissioned like that often say what the commissioner wants them to say.