The resolution authorizes the Development Authority to assign the lease to the Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau, which currently manages the County’s Gwinnett Center property located at 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway.
“An onsite hotel at Gwinnett Center has been in the master plan for years, but now we’re able make it happen without any financial obligation for construction or hotel operations by the County, the Development Authority, or the Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau,” Chairman Nash explained.
The GCVB chose a proposal by North Carolina-based Concord at Sugarloaf LLC as the best of four submitted with the best experience and financial backing to complete the project.
Gwinnett Center is home to the 50,000-square-foot Gwinnett Convention Center, the 700-seat Gwinnett Performing Arts Center, the Jaqueline Casey Hudgens Center for the Arts, and the 13,000-seat Arena at Gwinnett Center.
Known as the Gwinnett Civic and Cultural Center when it opened in 1992, it was one of several SPLOST projects built with funds from a four-year sales tax approved by voters in 1988. After an expansion that added The Arena and Grand Ballroom in 2002 and 2003, the name of the facility was changed to Gwinnett Center.
According to GCVB CEO Preston Williams, the project represents a $70 million investment with no public dollars involved. “Plans call for a full-service, first-class Marriott hotel of up to 12 stories,” said Williams.
“The addition of an on-site headquarters hotel will help attract conventions, trade shows, meetings, performers and audiences to spend their money in Gwinnett County – and that’s good for our local economy and for all of us who live here,” Nash added.
