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American Express Sells Half of its Business Travel Division & Creates Separate Venture
March 17, 2014
March 17--With business travel spending expected to rise this year, American Express Co. announced plans to sell half its business travel division and create a separate venture. American Express will give up 50% ownership of its global business travel division in exchange for an investment of $900 million from a group led by New York investment firm Certares. The ownership will be shared with Certares, Qatar Investment Authority, BlackRock and Macquarie Capital, according to American Express. The business will operate as a separate venture under the American Express Global Business Travel brand. Bill Glenn, formerly president of global
How Do New Yorkers View ‘Tourists’ Taking Over the City? Invaded and Overtaken by a Bland Sameness
March 16, 2014
March 16--The hordes of green-garbed visitors celebrating St. Patrick's Day Monday in bars throughout the city are bitter evidence to some residents that their neighborhoods have been converted into theme parks for outsiders at the expense of the people who live in them. Neighborhoods lose their cohesion when outsiders outnumber residents, complains Kathleen Treat, a member of the Hell's Kitchen Neighborhood Association. The influx of "yahoos from the suburbs" pouring in to drink at Ninth Avenue bars makes her feel "like an alien" in her own neighborhood, she said. The transformation of neighborhoods into tourist-attracting playgrounds
Minneapolis, Minnesota Officials Back Plan for $101 Million Hotel-Apartment Hybrid Development
March 15, 2014
March 15--Two ambitious proposals for a key spot in the Downtown East mixed-use development were reviewed in recent weeks by city officials, who ultimately backed a $101 million hotel-apartment hybrid for the spot. Minneapolis-based developer Ryan Cos. was chosen above a competing bid by Golden Valley-based Mortenson Development, which proposed a $63 million, 300-room hotel for the site. A mix of city officials, from planners to finance experts, made the recommendation, but the City Council will have the final say on the proposals at its March 28 meeting. Ryan is the developer of the overall $400 million Downtown East project, which inc
Pittsburgh, PA’s Choked Hotel Supply to Get Breathing Room; More than a Dozen Under Construction
March 15, 2014
March 15--Pittsburgh's choked hotel market is getting some room to breathe. More than a dozen hotels are either under construction or will open this year in the city -- a $168 million investment by developers who are attracted by the market's near 70 percent occupancy rate. The modest boom will add more than 800 rooms to the 4,570 available in Downtown hotels. The increase will help to alleviate some of the problems visitors may have finding rooms during key events, such as Pittsburgh Pirates games, but the city still lacks an important element for major conventions: a 1,000-room hotel at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. "That's
Judge Upholds Decision Allowing Madera, CA Casino/Hotel Project to Proceed
March 15, 2014
March 15--Gov. Jerry Brown and the federal government acted properly last year when they approved the compact that allows North Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians to build an "off-reservation" casino and hotel project, a Madera County judge said. The ruling was finalized Wednesday by Judge Michael Jurkovich, who said the governor has the power to "negotiate and conclude compacts, subject to ratification by the Legislature," under the state Constitution. "To hold otherwise would make the phrase 'negotiate and conclude' compacts meaningless," Jurkovich wrote in the ruling. Opponents include Madera-area residents and Stand Up For California, a
Who Will Succeed Walt Disney Co.‘s CEO, Robert Iger, in 2016?
March 14, 2014
March 14--It's one of Hollywood's longest-running guessing games: Who will succeed Walt Disney Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Robert Iger? And it just got a little more interesting. Anne Sweeney's announcement this week that she will step down as head of Disney's media networks, including ABC-TV, could help set up important moves on a corporate chess board as Disney prepares for bigger and more dramatic changes. Iger agreed last summer to stay on as CEO through June 2016, 15 months longer than initially planned. That has extended the day of reckoning for choosing his successor, who many think will be either Chief Financial Officer Jay
Appeals Stall Pacifica Companies Plan to Build & Manage Grover Beach Lodge and Conference Center, CA
March 14, 2014
March 14--It was supposed to be a decisive step, one that would allow Grover Beach officials to move forward on long-held plans to build a hotel and convention center they hope would attract tourists and increase revenue. In December, the City Council unanimously approved a permit for the Grover Beach Lodge and Conference Center, which would be built on a dirt lot near the nine-hole Pismo State Beach Golf Course. The next step was for the city staff to put together funding plans for millions of dollars worth of public improvements related to the project. But instead of moving forward, the city's efforts have slowed amid two appeals: one
Drury Inns to Build 180-room Drury Inn and Suites in Colorado Springs, Colorado
March 14, 2014
March 14--St. Louis-based Drury Inns has started work on a seven-story, 180-room Drury Inn and Suites at the InterQuest Marketplace shopping center, which will give the privately owned chain a pair of hotels on Colorado Springs' north side. The new Drury hotel, east of Interstate 25 and InterQuest Parkway, will join a 14-screen Regal movie theater complex, a Brunswick Zone XL entertainment center, Cheddar's Casual Cafe, Colorado Mountain Brewery and a Kum & Go convenience store at InterQuest Marketplace. Crews were moving dirt Friday at the nearly 4-acre site, and the hotel is expected to be completed in 2015. Drury officials didn't