Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel

Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel is a branded hotel in downtown Columbus, Ohio, located approximately half a block from the Ohio Statehouse on Capitol Square. The property is part of Renaissance Hotels, a Marriott International lodging brand, and serves business travelers, leisure visitors, event attendees, and groups seeking accommodation in the city center. Its facilities include guest rooms, food-and-beverage operations, meeting and banquet space, and other services associated with a full-service downtown hotel. The property occupies a 22-story building designed in the International style by Columbus architectural firm Kellam & Foley. Its development formed part of a major redevelopment of a prominent downtown site formerly occupied by the Virginia Hotel and the Columbus Citizen building. The Virginia Hotel had originated as the Virginia Apartments, an early twentieth-century residential property, while the newspaper building remained in use until the late 1950s and early 1960s. Both structures were demolished in 1961 after the School Employees Retirement Board of Ohio acquired the site and pursued development of a new hotel. The new building was conceived as a modern motor hotel that would combine the amenities of a conventional hotel with automobile-oriented conveniences. Early plans included extensive self-parking, a drive-in entrance, guest-room vending facilities, and mechanized check-in concepts. The completed structure also incorporated retail, offices, parking, restaurants, event facilities, guest rooms, and a pool and garden area. It opened to the public as the Columbus Plaza Hotel on November 18, 1963, at a time when downtown Columbus had seen relatively little new hotel construction for several decades. The property entered the Sheraton system in 1965 and operated for more than two decades as the Sheraton Columbus Motor Hotel. During this period it underwent branding and physical changes, including later efforts to give the hotel a more traditional, European-influenced interior character. The Sheraton affiliation ended in 1986, and the hotel closed in December 1987 after declining demand, financial difficulties, and unsuccessful attempts to reposition or sell the building. The structure remained vacant for roughly a decade while proposals for apartments, a health club, parking, private investment units, and other uses failed to proceed. HBE Corporation acquired the property in 1996, and it reopened on March 21, 1997, as an Adam's Mark hotel following an approximately $25 million renovation. The project increased the reported room count from about 380 to 415 and restored the building as one of downtown Columbus's largest hotels. After further ownership and repositioning activity, the property was acquired in 2004 for conversion to a Marriott-affiliated hotel. A renovation carried out during 2005 and 2006 converted it into a Renaissance hotel while allowing the property to remain open during the work. The hotel’s identity is therefore tied to several successive operating brands and to the redevelopment history of central Columbus. Its present Renaissance positioning places it in Marriott’s full-service, design-conscious hotel portfolio, with an emphasis on a central urban location, meetings, events, and both corporate and leisure stays. The available reference material does not establish the current owner, general manager, exact room inventory, current amenities, or an official website URL, so those details are left unspecified.

The present Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel stands on a historically significant downtown Columbus site. Before the current tower, the property included the Virginia Hotel, also known earlier as the Virginia Apartments, and the Columbus Citizen building. The Virginia was designed by Frank Packard and opened in 1908 as a mixed residential property with bachelor-oriented accommodations and family apartments. It later hosted notable civic and political gatherings, including the Ohio Republican Party’s 1916 convention and the 1924 national convention of the Grand Army of the Republic and its auxiliary organization. The School Employees Retirement Board of Ohio acquired the Virginia Hotel in January 1960 as an investment and purchased the Columbus Citizen building the following year. In 1961, the board announced plans for a new downtown hotel with drive-in facilities. The earlier proposals changed in scale and cost as planning advanced, eventually calling for a large multi-use building with hotel rooms, offices, retail space, restaurants, event facilities, and structured parking. The two older buildings were vacated and demolished between late September and December 1961. Foundation work began in 1962, and Columbus architects Kellam & Foley designed the replacement building in the International style. The Columbus Plaza Hotel opened on November 18, 1963. The approximately 22-story building was conceived as a modern motor hotel, reflecting the growing importance of automobile travel while retaining the services of a conventional full-service hotel. Its plans included drive-in access, parking levels, retail areas, meeting and dining facilities, offices, guest rooms, and a pool and garden component. The hotel was among the first major new downtown lodging developments in Columbus in several decades and prompted existing local hotels to invest in upgrades in anticipation of new competition. The property faced legal controversy soon after opening because the Ohio attorney general questioned the authority of the School Employees Retirement Board to invest in and own a hotel. Despite this issue, the property entered the Sheraton system in January 1965 under temporary arrangements that were later replaced by a long-term lease. Its name became the Sheraton Columbus Motor Hotel in May 1965, and the formal conversion involved new branding, office expansions, and other improvements. Additional changes in 1981 sought to give the property a more refined, old-world interior style. The hotel lost its Sheraton franchise in fall 1986. The owners considered converting part of the tower to condominiums and later explored selling rooms as private investments, but these plans did not resolve the property’s financial and market problems. With downtown hotel demand insufficient and reported debt of approximately $14 million, the hotel progressively reduced operations and closed on December 1, 1987. The building remained vacant for about ten years. During that interval, proposals included apartment conversion, a health club, a high-rise parking facility, and use as a corporate headquarters. The property eventually changed hands through a sheriff’s sale and was acquired by MetLife around 1989. HBE Corporation, the parent company of the Adam’s Mark hotel chain, purchased the building in January 1996. Following an approximately $25 million renovation, it reopened as the Adam’s Mark on March 21, 1997. The renovation expanded the reported inventory to 415 rooms from roughly 380, making the hotel one of the largest in downtown Columbus at the time. The Adam’s Mark operation later struggled to achieve profitability, and the building was placed on the market in 2003. In 2004, the property was purchased for conversion to a Marriott hotel. Renovation continued through 2005 and 2006 while the hotel remained open, ultimately changing the property into a Renaissance hotel. That conversion established its current association with Marriott International’s Renaissance Hotels brand. Since then, the property has continued to operate as a full-service downtown hotel near Capitol Square. The available reference material does not provide a complete account of subsequent renovations, ownership, management, room inventory, or operating performance.

• 2006

  Conversion to Renaissance hotel completed

  [1]Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotelen.wikipedia.org

  A renovation conducted during 2005–2006 converted the operating property into a Renaissance hotel while it remained open.

• 2004

  Acquired for Marriott conversion

  [1]Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotelen.wikipedia.org

  The property was purchased for conversion into a Marriott-affiliated hotel.

• 1997

  Reopens as Adam's Mark

  [1]Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotelen.wikipedia.org

  The property reopened on March 21, 1997, after an approximately $25 million renovation.

• 1996

  HBE Corporation acquires the property

  [1]Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotelen.wikipedia.org

  HBE Corporation acquired the vacant building and prepared it for reopening under its Adam’s Mark hotel chain.

• 1987

  Hotel closes

  [1]Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotelen.wikipedia.org

  After losing its Sheraton affiliation and facing financial and demand problems, the property closed on December 1, 1987.

• 1965

  Property joins Sheraton

  [1]Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotelen.wikipedia.org

  The hotel entered the Sheraton system and adopted the name Sheraton Columbus Motor Hotel.

• 1963

  Columbus Plaza Hotel opens

  [1]Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotelen.wikipedia.org

  The new downtown hotel opened to the public on November 18, 1963.

• 1961

  New downtown hotel approved and older buildings demolished

  [1]Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotelen.wikipedia.org

  Plans for a large drive-in hotel were developed, and the Virginia Hotel and Columbus Citizen building were demolished later that year.

• 1960

  Site acquired by the School Employees Retirement Board of Ohio

  [1]Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotelen.wikipedia.org

  The retirement board purchased the Virginia Hotel as an investment and subsequently acquired the adjoining Columbus Citizen building.

• 1908

  Virginia Apartments opens

  [1]Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotelen.wikipedia.org

  The earlier Virginia Apartments, later known as the Virginia Hotel, opened on the future hotel site as a mixed residential property designed by Frank Packard.

Full-service urban hotel for business, leisure, meetings, and events

• Hotel accommodation · 1963

  Guest rooms and suites

  The property’s core offering is full-service downtown lodging in a high-rise building near Capitol Square. Its room inventory has changed over time, including an expansion to a reported 415 rooms after the 1990s Adam’s Mark renovation. The current inventory and room configuration are not specified in the available reference material.

• Events and hospitality services · 1963

  Meetings and banquets

  Meeting, ballroom, dining, and banquet functions have been part of the property’s planned and operating role since its original development. These facilities support business gatherings, civic events, receptions, and other group occasions associated with a large downtown hotel.

• Hotel dining · 1963

  Food and beverage operations

  The building was designed with restaurant, bar, kitchen, private dining, and related hospitality areas. The specific names, concepts, menus, and current operating status of its dining venues are not established by the available source.

• 2004

  Conversion to a Marriott Renaissance propertyStrategy

  Background

  After the Adam’s Mark operation struggled to achieve profitability and the building was placed for sale in 2003, a new repositioning was pursued.

  Action taken

  The property was acquired for conversion to a Marriott hotel and underwent renovation during 2005–2006 while remaining open.

  Aftermath

  The hotel became part of the Renaissance Hotels brand and adopted its current identity.

  Source

• 1997

  Reopening under the Adam's Mark brandStrategy

  Background

  The building had been vacant for roughly a decade after closure in 1987 and multiple redevelopment proposals had failed.

  Action taken

  HBE Corporation renovated the property and reopened it as an Adam's Mark hotel on March 21, 1997.

  Aftermath

  The renovation reportedly increased the room count to 415 and restored the property as a major downtown hotel.

  Renovation cost. $25 million (1996–1997)

  Source

• 1965

  Adoption of the Sheraton affiliationStrategy

  Background

  The independently opened Columbus Plaza Hotel was seeking an established operating and marketing identity in the competitive downtown Columbus lodging market.

  Action taken

  The property entered the Sheraton system under temporary agreements and later a long-term lease, becoming the Sheraton Columbus Motor Hotel.

  Aftermath

  The hotel operated under the Sheraton name until it lost the franchise in fall 1986.

  Source

1. 1Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotelen.wikipedia.org