By Dustin Brown
A Queens convention center could attract significant business to the borough if it were built in combination with a hotel near one of the two major airports, a consultant told the Queens Chamber of Commerce this week.
“We believe that there is a need for a meeting venue,” said Daniel Hanrahan of the Pinnacle Advisory Group, the hospitality consulting firm that conducted the study funded with a $50,000 state grant arranged by state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose).
The results were delivered at Monday’s meeting of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, which had commissioned the study as a way to examine whether a convention center should be constructed in the borough.
“What we wanted to find out is was there any demand and if so, what type of facility?” said Chamber President Joseph Farber.
Hanrahan concluded after the study that a meeting and exhibition center was more desirable than a convention center because research showed Queens would best accommodate a smaller-scale conference venue to meet the needs of companies with headquarters or offices in and around the city.
The center would have to be connected to a hotel with a minimum of 400 to 500 rooms since the availability of hotel space is the most important factor for companies choosing a destination for an event, the study indicated.
Although the study did not specify a site for the center, the areas of hotel development around John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports would be “most preferable in our view,” it stated.
Hanrahan said the World Trade Center disaster should not have an effect on the findings of the report, which was commissioned earlier this year and completed by July, because the convention center is a long-term project.
“The business of business in our opinion will go on,” Hanrahan said.
The only obstacle to the project was the finding that many companies did not recognize Queens as a probable site for such a center.
“Everything’s here that you would want for any type of meeting,” Farber said. “There’s not enough knowledge as to what Queens has.”
Although convention centers rarely earn any profit on their own, they are considered a vital boost to local economies because of the business they draw into the community.
“You don’t build a convention center with the idea that it will run a profit,” Farber said.
Despite the inability of the center to earn money itself, the adjacent hotel would likely draw a profit and the complex would have a “far-reaching economic impact” on the surrounding area, Hanrahan said.
“This convention center and hotel can wind up employing 1,000 or 2,000 people, all of whom are earning money and paying taxes,” Farber said.
Chamber members appeared enthusiastic about moving ahead into the second phase of the project.
Farber said the chamber will seek funding for a more detailed study to determine guidelines to be used by prospective developers to draw up plans when they eventually bid for the project.
The convention center would likely be built by a private developer with help from the government in the form of tax incentives and assistance in acquiring land.
Helen Marshall, the Democratic candidate for Queens borough president, showed strong support for the idea of a convention center at the meeting.
“I think there’s a great potential in Queens for a convention center,” said Helen Marshall, the Democratic nominee for Queens borough president. “We need to build up business in Queens.”
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
