CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Clarksville, Tenn., could be well on its way to gaining a convention center in the near future.
As reported by Clarksville Now, the Clarksville-Montgomery County Economic Development Council (EDC) voted to move forward with a market study to indicate how big the facility would need to be.
The convention center is planned to be part of a 69-acre business park called Site 27.
The article states the project has been in the works for several years, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed it.
“In the maturity of our business park, we’re at the point where we’re talking to developers to be the master developer for the entire property–all 69 areas. We’re also talking with a hotel convention center developer who will be part of that development,” Buck Dellinger, president and CEO of the EDO, says in the article. “In the process of doing that, we need to sort of know from an outside source, what is the size of the convention center that we need to create?”
Bellinger says when the property was purchased with funding from the county, the resolution included a requirement for a 40,000-square-foot convention center. While he believes that number is close to what they need, the market study is needed to be able to justify it when talking to developers.
If that number were to change, the board would be required to get approval from the county.
“A convention center space is expensive, probably $400 to $500 a square foot,” Dellinger says, noting the facilities are built to a higher standard. “A developer doesn’t want to build 10,000 extra (square) feet at $500 a square foot if they don’t have to.”
The business park is envisioned to have two hotels and up to one million square feet of office space.
Clarksville Now also reports Dellinger had previously said the convention center will “likely be geared to trade shows and other corporate entities, focusing on ballrooms and meeting spaces.”
