REAL ESTATE

The Sheraton harborside project includes a major convention center. Schematic Drawing Courtesy of Sheraton Harborside

PORTSMOUTH – Economic projections suggest the planned conference center and Westin hotel will deliver millions to city businesses. Downtown business owners are hopeful with a dash of guarded optimism.

HarborCorp LLC’s plans for the conference center downtown that could seat up to 1,200 people plus the 207-room hotel are in the city approval process, which now includes a lawsuit filed by a rival hotel company over the plan to construct public-private parking garage. No construction timeframe has been announced, but that hasn’t stopped some merchants from looking ahead.

The conference center absolutely will bring in additional business, said Jerry Stellmach, general manager of The Rosa restaurant on State Street. "We’ve seen it already when they did the Wentworth hotel," Stellmach said. "We get quite a few customers from there when they have conferences or meetings. And they help bring in people on weekends who just want to come into Portsmouth and walk around and dine."

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Conference Center: Why should local businesses care?

Raymond Goodman is professor and chairman of the hospitality management department at UNH’s Whittemore School of Business and Economics. He said Portsmouth is ideal for conferences in the "shoulder months" of April and May and October and November.

"It will be quite effective in extending into the shoulder seasons," he said.

Goodman said those months are attractive for conferences because hotels and conference centers offer very favorable rates. Northern cities do well in cooler months, while destinations like Las Vegas are great for summer conferences.

"People who book conferences are looking for premier places at favorable rates," Goodman said. "That’s where the rubber meets the road."

Goodman said industry standards show conferences have a multiplier effect of 7 to 9 times, meaning every dollar spent translates to up $9 more for the local economy. Based upon that, a conference with 100 attendees who pay $500 each to attend would multiply to an economic impact of up to $450,000.

Much of this economic impact starts with additional services the hotel must provide to house the conference guests, such as linens, food and staffing. Several downtown businesses hope they too can tap into that revenue.

"We’re viewing it as a positive," said Margot Doering, innkeeper and owner of the Inn at Martin Hill on Islington Street. "For every 100 or 200 conventioneers there’s probably going to be a few who prefer to get a taste of the local atmosphere and stay at a bed and breakfast."

There are five bed and breakfast locations in Portsmouth, and two more in Kittery, Maine. "Since most bed and breakfasts are only about five rooms that means every convention could throw one or two people to a bed and breakfast," she said.

Martha Stolzer, owner of Serendipity on Pleasant Street, believes there must be a partnership for downtown merchants to pick up business from the conferences.

"Hopefully the hotels will work with the downtown people to promote our businesses through information, coupons and ways for people to find us," Stolzer said. "It will be great for the businesses that are right close to the new hotels, but we are kind of on the outside.

Stolzer said improved maps and signage directing new visitors around the city would be a great assistance.

"A lot of people end up on Market Street and Bow Street near the water, but they don’t always end up on Congress Street," she said.

Stolzer hopes the conference center can create new life for downtown businesses.

"I feel that tourism has been off the last couple of years for me," she said. "It just seemed like the summers were always busy, but it now it seems like it doesn’t get going until August."

Marion Yaun, owner of the Portsmouth Candle Company, on Congress Street, said "I am and I’m not," when asked if she were excited about the conference center and hotels.

"Basically I think it could turn that trick of bringing more people in," said Yaun, who has run her downtown store since 1991.

Yaun said she already has people come into her shop who are in the city for a conference. "The reason I have mixed feeling is because of a sense of nostalgia; just liking the town the way it is," she said. "I’d hate to see it too developed. It has charm, that’s why I moved to the area." Yaun echoes Stolzer’s sentiments on the need for partnerships between the hotels, municipal leaders and the small business owners.

"One thing I feel is important and I feel hasn’t happened at all, is for the city to be proactive in supporting small businesses, which it is not," Yaun said. "They may say they are, but they are not. It has become more difficult for small businesses to survive downtown."

Yaun purchased her business condo, but said she would not survive if she were paying today’s downtown rental prices.

A good part of promoting downtown businesses will fall to the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce. Its president, Dick Ingram, said the chamber has worked hard for several years to raise Portsmouth’s profile as a destination. Ingram said a television station in Providence, R.I., recently picked Portsmouth as one of the best "getaways on a tank of gas."

"The potential a conference center holds is to attract business travel that we don’t necessarily attract during the shoulder seasons," Ingram said. "We will see small to medium size conferences and that, I think, is very attractive to the downtown business community."

Ingram said the Hilton Garden Inn and anticipated Sheraton expansion will bring in business beyond conferences.

"Those individual properties create an energy of their own where they are looking to develop business for themselves," he said. "Any time there’s new things coming online that does create a jump for everyone."

Ingram said the conference center and hotels are a public vote of confidence in the city and region. He said the area is poised to take advantage of it through the mix of diverse year-round offerings that include history, culture and arts, plus shops and restaurants.

And Ingram said the area can support additional rooms as area hotels operate near or at capacity in the peak season.

"I never cease to be amazed by the number of people who pull over here during the summer and hope to find a room on the weekends."