Kings College has purchased and is converting the Former 105 room former Ramada Hotel on the center square in Wilkes-Barre, PA to dormitory facilities.
This leave the 72 room Best Western hotel, two blocks away, as the only hotel in the downtown area.
According to the latest Census figures, Wilkes-Barre has a population of 41,498 and Lancaster has 59,622.
Lancaster not only is now served by the 298 room Marriott Hotel, but a new owner plans to invest over $15 million dollars in state CRIZ money in the former 224 room Hilton / Ramada, Brunswick and now Lancaster Hotel to become a direct competitor to the Marriott, which is owned and leased to Penn Square Partners by the City of Lancaster.
The Marriott Hotel apparently is surviving due to its cheap rental, real estate tax excision, and business during busy days generated by the adjoining Convention Center.
If the Lancaster Hotel could not survive as a Hilton and struggled for decades afterwards under different identities when it was the only downtown hotel, what future could be in store for both the Marriott and the re-flagged Lancaster Hotel other than a downward spiral due to low occupancy due to over building a very limited market?
In hindsight, I wonder how many of the power elite now wish that HACC had taken over the Watt & Shand building?? At the very least there would be much more daily downtown foot traffic from students/faculty who could also eat and shop downtown.
If a convention center was needed the Hilton/Ramada/Brunswick could have adequately served the needed rooms and renovations to other empty downtown facilities within the same block could have made a viable convention center.
Whoops….PSP would not need to exist!!!!!