Building a ‘community icon’

Jonas Arjes: The proposed convention center will breed more development.

Debra Shantz Hart: Success will depend on the details.

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Springfield needs a downtown event center suitable for both conventions and community uses.

That’s the latest recommendation of Chicago-based Hunden Strategic Partners Inc. in its fourth study since 2011 of Springfield’s need and capacity for a convention center.

The study was presented to Springfield City Council July 8 by Visit Springfield, Missouri President and CEO Mark Hecquet.

Asked to conduct a market and feasibility study for the development of a convention center, the consultants specializing in place strategy recommended a $175 million event center. It’s a project described by Hecquet as more than a convention center, but a multiuse venue for visitors and residents alike. Hecquet called it a “community icon.”

“It will be something that will instill pride in our community and something that will be very recognizable for the city of Springfield,” he said.

The study declared a downtown location to be essential to the project; however, it did not suggest a site.

“The city has a lot of property downtown and we have options on property downtown, so I think that’s probably the first place to look,” said Mayor Jeff Schrag said.

Schrag said at this point, especially when considering property negotiations, it is important to keep multiple site ideas on the table.

Past Hunden reports have gone so far as to identify potential sites, including the Bass Pro Shops complex, suggested in 2019.

The current report notes that the possibility of Bass Pro developing its own event facility could influence the type of events to be hosted in a downtown center.

“Future developments by Bass Pro and the city of Springfield are expected to be mutually beneficial and complementary, delivering meaningful value for the city,” the report states.

Bass Pro Shops has not announced its plans for a site on its campus where it demolished a 176,000-square-foot building that once housed a Kmart.

In a best-case scenario, the city’s convention center facility would be built in two years, Hecquet said. Schrag said he envisions a new facility in place by 2028.

Revenue generator
The report estimates the project would generate an average of $26 million in net new spending annually.

The report also suggests that over 30 years, the project would generate $1.3 billion in spending. That means the city loses $125,114 per day by inactivity, Hecquet said.

Tax revenue would also be realized from the facility, according to the report, which states the center is expected to generate $68.7 million in tax revenue over 30 years. That breaks down to roughly $20.9 million in city sales tax, $24.4 million in hotel room tax and $23.5 million in property tax.

The state of Missouri allocated $30 million toward the project in its current fiscal 2026 budget, but those funds have been designated as restricted by Gov. Mike Kehoe, meaning it can be accessed only with the governor’s approval and must be allocated in the next 12 months.

Asked if a loss of the $30 million would kill the project, Schrag said no.

“We look at the overwhelming evidence that says the community is missing out on a great deal,” he said. “I think it’s beholden upon us to continue with eyes wide open and all the good sense we can have to look toward this project, even if, for some reason, the state money, in whole or in part, does not come through.”

Key takeaways
Hecquet said there are six project headlines – three bad and three good.

Topping the list of the bad was the fact that the Springfield market is stagnant. The report found hotel occupancy levels have not recovered to prepandemic 2019 levels, and without a sufficient convention package, that trend could continue.

The report adds that Springfield’s average daily hotel occupancy rates are not competitive with markets such as Branson and with the national average. That highlights “a possibly inadequate existing product,” the report states, adding that few new hotels have been added to the market in recent years.

“As someone who gets to promote the city around the world, it saddened my heart a little bit to get a research study and the first thing it says is that Springfield is stagnating,” Hecquet said.

A second bad headline: The Springfield Expo Center, with less exhibition and meeting space than its competitors, is underperforming.

“In fact, alarmingly,” Hecquet said. “The number of visitors to the Expo Center is on a very downward trajectory, which is very disappointing to see.”

The third dinger: Throughout the multistate region, municipalities have invested heavily into the convention sector by expanding, adding or modernizing facilities, and this pushes Springfield’s facilities further behind, Hecquet said.

Among the good headlines, Hecquet said, is opportunity for the city.

“One thing that is very clear out of this study is that Springfield has an unprecedented opportunity to lead,” he said.

Local advantages include location, accessibility, amenities and connectivity, he said.

Another good headline, according to Hecquet, is the opportunity to create a multiuse center that is more than just a convention center and is a recognizable asset for the city.

Lastly, Hecquet said, the center will create an economic ripple.

“The economic ripple of a project like this will stretch not only through all of Springfield but beyond,” he said.

Springfield is lagging
Hecquet said the proposed project is not about Springfield being average.

“This is about very simply positioning Springfield as a leader in a multistate region,” he said.

Springfield’s Expo Center has functional space of 49,375 square feet, the report states. It compares the Expo Center to five projects within a 215-mile radius, listed here with total function space in square feet:

• Tulsa, Oklahoma’s Arvest Business Convention Center: 204,000
• Little Rock, Arkansas, Statehouse Convention Center: 109,000
• Overland Park, Kansas, Convention Center: 98,000
• Branson Convention Center: 85,000
• St. Charles Convention Center: 57,000

While these facilities are offered as a comparison group in the report, they are not the proposed center’s actual competition – those are instead facilities in the states surrounding Missouri, he said.

Among the five-city comparative group in the report, however, Springfield does not fare well.

“The data clearly show we are dead last in our competitive set – dead last,” Hecquet said.

Expo Center limitations
The Springfield Expo Center, owned by the city and operated by Atrium Hospitality LP, is not sufficient to meet the city’s needs, according to the report, which notes it is roughly 60,000 square feet smaller than the average total function space of the comparison group. Atrium also owns the University Plaza Hotel, which the report states is in poor condition. City Council members have called for Atrium to up its game, most notably in a 2022 meeting, where former Springfield Convention and Visitors Bureau President Tracy Kimberlin warned that if visitors stay at University Plaza, “it’s not going to be very pretty.”

The Expo Center also lacks any ballroom space. Hecquet said the largest Springfield facility can accommodate only about 1,000 people, a fact that limits the types of groups it can attract. Comparison venues’ ballrooms range 17,000-43,000 square feet, the report states.

The proposed facility would have 125,000 square feet of total function space, including 18,000 square feet of ballroom space with its largest ballroom at 30,000 square feet – larger than any of the listed competitors.

The proposal also calls for 12 rooms and 16,000 square feet of meeting space. Competitor venues average 12 rooms and 13,197 square feet of meeting space.

The Expo Center offers only 4,375 square feet of meeting space and seven rooms, the report states – 8,822 square feet below average.

The report also states there is a misalignment between Atrium Hospitality and the city.

“Additionally, Atrium Hospitality has lacked transparency, failing to provide Hunden with event and booking data or full financial reports,” it states. “The current contract limits the city’s ability to optimize performance.”

Connected hotel
The Hunden report states that a 400-room, full-service, connected hotel would be needed. It puts the cost of a center-connected hotel at $209 million. This is in addition to the $175 million estimate for the center itself.

While the center is envisioned as a publicly funded project, to be managed, ideally, by a third party, the report anticipates a public-private partnership to fund the hotel. Hecquet said he has heard from interested investors, but he did not name them.

The connected hotel is essential, according to Hecquet.

Schrag said it is important that the hotel be a recognized brand that would enforce the standards of its brand. The report specifically recommends Marriott, Hilton or Hyatt because of their strong loyalty programs.

The report also stipulates that there must be an additional 600 hotel rooms within a walkable distance of the proposed facility. It suggests building a 100-plus-room select-service and boutique hotel to complete the walkable package.

Hecquet said there are land opportunities for new hotels, and it is likely the city would need another hotel to reach that goal.

Data from Visit Springfield confirms downtown is already close to the target of 600 additional rooms, with 560 rooms available among the Hotel Vandivort (97 rooms), Moxy Springfield Downtown (98), Tru by Hilton Springfield Downtown (98) and University Plaza Hotel (267).

Economic impact
By year four, the center would annually bring in an estimated 164 events with 251 event days and nearly 180,000 attendees, the report states.

“We don’t have this right now,” Hecquet said. “We don’t have a venue today that can do any of this, so we have to look at this as new.”

The project would not steal business from within the Springfield community, he said; rather, it would be a demand generator. Data shows average daily rate and occupancy will go up as a result.

Jonas Arjes, the chamber’s senior vice president of economic development, said the proposed project is an exciting one from a development perspective.

“It’s something that’s been discussed, dreamt about and planned for a long time,” he said.

Arjes said development breeds development.

“Not only will there be a significant amount of capital investment through the facility itself, but we’re going to see complementary, ancillary development attracted by what an event center at this scope and scale will bring,” he said.

Arjes came to his Springfield role last year from Branson, where he was chief economic development officer for the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce. The Branson Convention Center opened in 2007 and is exploring an expansion of the 220,000-square-foot facility, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

“In my history, I’ve seen what a larger facility can do for a community,” he said.

According to its 2024 year-end financial report, posted online by the city, the Branson Convention Center had 219,000 visitors in 2024, with 171 total events and 508 event days. The economic impact, according to the annual report, was $70 million. Some notable events included the Innovation Summit of the Greater Ozarks Cooperating School Districts, bringing 1,100 attendees; the Missouri Municipal League Annual Conference, with nearly 700 visitors; and the Midwest Manufacturers Trade Show & Conference, with more than 1,000 visitors.

The Branson Convention Center operated at a loss of $263,000 in 2023 and $17,000 in 2024. (Notably, the 2024 loss had been budgeted at $320,000.) Annual operating expenses were $4.5 million last year.

Arjes said that he doesn’t see the proposed facility as a competitor for regional facilities in places like Branson, Lake of the Ozarks and St. Charles; rather, he said, it will compete in the Midwest and even nationally to bring visitors to Springfield.

“With the assets this region has, we need to dream big,” he said.

Amanda Ohlensehlen, the city’s director of Workforce and Economic Vitality, said the proposed facility offers an unprecedented opportunity for the city.

“In thinking about bringing in 180,000 new visitors to Springfield and over 80,000 room nights, that brings visitors in a scope and a scale that the city of Springfield hasn’t been able to experience to date,” she said.

‘Devil’s in the details’
Developer Debra Shantz Hart, owner of Housing Plus LLC and Sustainable Housing Solutions, said she hadn’t yet studied the latest Hunden report in detail, but from 13 years of experience as general counsel for John Q. Hammons Hotels, she could imagine what it said.

“It’s going to talk about the economic generator impacts of the convention center and how many times your dollar will turn, what a benefit it will be to hotels and motels in the community, how it will bring groups to town – otherwise it wouldn’t be coming here,” she said.

What’s more, Hart said, that’s all true.

“I’ve heard John Q. Hammons give that speech about 150 times in different cities, and I believe it,” she said. “I think the devil’s in the details on how it works out.”

Hart said for the project to succeed, something will have to be done to improve areas of the downtown, including cleaning up some blighted properties.

Asked if Springfield has sufficient amenities to serve foot traffic from a large convention, Hart said, “In its current environment, it does not.”

But, she said, Hammons went to places that were fields of grass and convinced cities to build convention centers adjacent to his hotels. The closest example is a Rogers, Arkansas, area that became a successful development called Pinnacle Hills.

“That area just changed exponentially, but there was a plan in place to make that happen,” she said. “If you think you’re just doing a convention center, there’s going to be a problem attracting businesses.”

Hart said a convention center is a loss leader that ushers in economic development, with visitors coming to town and buying gas, eating out, buying something at a store and spreading the benefit around while the center itself experiences a loss.

The Hunden report notes convention centers often operate at a loss while generating positive gross revenue. It gave the example of the Pueblo, Colorado, Convention Center, with losses of about $600,000 annually but gross revenues of about $2.5 million. Some, like the Spokane, Washington, Convention Center, have broken even or achieved a modest profit over the past decade following annual average losses of $500,000-$800,000.

The study cost $88,000 and was commissioned by Visit Springfield. The city, the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Springfield Association each contributed $8,000 toward the total.