The Gwinnett Center could have a headquarters hotel in its future.
Leaders with the convention facility and the Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau on Tuesday put out a request for proposal for hoteliers to build lodging at the Center.
A headquarters hotel is needed because "many conventions or meetings won’t even consider a venue that doesn’t have an on-site, attached full-service hotel," Preston Williams, chief executive officer of the Center and the GCVB said in a release.
Gwinnett last issued a proposal request for a headquarters hotel in 2007, Williams said. Interest was strong but the economy went sour the next year.
Because Gwinnett Center is county-owned, potential developments would be a public/private partnership. However, the developer would not get county assistance and would have to finance the project fully.
“We are really just testing the waters, to see if the current business environment is ready to move on this project, and if the interest is still there,” Williams said.
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