MARRIOTT BAY CITY: New Hotel in Uptown Sets Opening for December
No Talk of a Competing Conference Center Good News for Double Tree
May 9, 2014
By: Dave Rogers
A projected December 2014 opening has been set for the four-story Marriott Courtyard-Bay City
The Marriott hotel corporation doesn't mess around.
A projected December 2014 opening has been set for the four-story Marriott Courtyard-Bay City, with an address at 2 East Main Street and phone number 989-634-1370.
The opening is slated just 16 months after the announcement of the project in September 2013 as one of the anchor tenants of Uptown Bay City, a "new neighborhood" development of SSP Associates.
Significantly, there was no mention of the initial talk of a convention/center, which would have put the Marriott on a collision course with the Hilton DoubleTree--Bay City Riverfront, one of the gems in the Hilton chain.
The Pure Michigan tourism website has posted the following announcement about the Bay City Marriott:
"Opening December 2014. Minutes from Historic Downtown Bay City. Conveniently off of M-25. Adjacent to Dow Corning. Near Cultural activities, Universities and hospitals. Newest hotel and Marriott in the area. Our features include Starbucks Coffee, The Bistro. Eat. Drink. Connect. Invigorating fitness center, 24/7 Market, refreshing indoor pool and much more."
The Hilton DoubleTree has established itself as the "go to" place for conferences in northeastern Michigan's Great Lakes Bay Region. The DoubleTree has 150 rooms and 16,000 square feet of flexible meeting space that can accommodate up to 550 guests.
The City Commission of Bay City has approved a $2.4 million expansion of the RiverWalk, including a plaza and day dock area. The RiverWalk into Uptown would link the DoubleTree and the Marriott through walkable space less than half a mile away.
The Marriott website lists the hotel as having 97 rooms, three suites and two meeting rooms."
Thus, it would be positioned as a supplemental site for large conferences that might overflow the DoubleTree, said a knowledgeable hotelier up-to-date on tourism and accommodations here.
And, it would provide the accommodations for double the number of conventioneers, allowing meetings of large statewide groups and national organizations, an important factor in gaining those meetings here.
The DoubleTree is owned by the City of Bay City and bondholders.
Amerilodge Group in Rochester Hills, also owner of another Bay County facility, the Holiday Inn Express & Suites on Wilder Road, is the developer of the Marriott-Bay City.
Projected investment in the Uptown project has skyrocketed from the originally-projected $50 million to $100 million spoken of last Tuesday by Peter Shaheen, keynoter of the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce eye-opener breakfast.
Shaheen set spirits soaring at the meeting by dangling the tantalizing upcoming news announcement of new anchor businesses to come soon, mentioning "major brands and global firms."
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/mbscb-courtyard-bay-city/
A vital part of the remaking of the old industrial riverfront was a $5 million Consumers Energy project removing unsightly overhead lines and towers reaching across the Saginaw River.
Funded jointly by Consumers and Bay City, the project involved the installation of underground electric lines replacing overhead lines. The overhead lines, poles, and towers were removed after a 1,000 foot, 32 inch diameter hole was drilled 30 feet under the Saginaw River. The underground system was installed, tested, and in service at the end of 2013.
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