Convention Hotel

The face of downtown Indianapolis is quickly changing. The new 1,005-room JW Marriott, currently under construction as part of the $450 million hotel center Marriott Place, has reached the halfway mark, according to Indy Star. Working at a rate of about one story every 10 days, the new 34-story glass tower could be complete by the end of 2009 or early 2010. It is currently scheduled to open February 2011.

Also included in the Marriott Place project are three other hotels: the 297-room Courtyard by Marriott Indianapolis Downtown and the 156-room SpringHill Suites by Marriott Indianapolis downtown, both of which completed exterior construction last week, as well as the 168-room Fairfield Inn & Suites Indianapolis Downtown, scheduled to open in March 2010. Altogether, the hotels will bring 1,626 new rooms to downtown Indianapolis.

In addition to improved accommodations, the revitalized downtown area will feature an expanded convention center. The $275 million expansion of the Indiana Convention Center will create an additional 420,000 square feet of exhibit, meeting and registration space upon its scheduled completion in December 2010.

This expansion will push Indianapolis to number 16 among U.S. convention cities, according to Constructor magazine. It is currently number 33. Interestingly, Indianapolis will also rank number 1 when it comes to skywalks in U.S. cities, once the new hotels' join those of the eight existing hotels linking to the convention center.

View more information about JW Marriott Indianapolis Downtown on the Cvent Supplier Network