City debates use of former Hotel Tallmadge

A small, late 19th-century building tucked near the Minneapolis Convention Center could play a key role in encouraging convention-goers to get out of the skyways and explore the city.

The brick building at 1219 S. Marquette Av., once known as the Hotel Tallmadge, has been owned by the city for 30 years and leased out for office space. But as convention and tourism officials look for new ways to market the city — and prepare for an overhaul of the nearby Nicollet Mall — they say the Tallmadge might be better used as a visitor center.

In a budget hearing Thursday, Jeff Johnson, the Convention Center's executive director, told City Council members that his department has had recent success in attracting major conventions and improving its financial situation. This summer, the facility posted its highest-ever revenue month in history and its request for support in next year's city budget — $8 million — is the lowest in more than a decade.

Now, he said, the city needs to focus on how people who come to those conventions spend their time in Minneapolis.

Without many options for food, entertainment and local information near the Convention Center, Johnson said visitors often stick to the skyways and restaurants near their hotels, rather than exploring nearby destinations like Loring Park or other parts of downtown. He said a facility that could provide information — or even have an amenity like a restaurant — could be an important new feature.

The city typically provides $200,000 each year for the Tallmadge Building. Officials project it will bring in about $97,000 in revenue next year. Johnson said the city hasn't been actively seeking new tenants in recent years, since the building's future is uncertain, and much of the space is now vacant.

"Having the Tallmadge Building be what it is now is not going to have a future," Johnson told council members. "So to go into that next step is a really important part of our growth and our connection to the city going forward."

Council Member Lisa Goodman said she has tried to launch an affordable housing project in the Tallmadge. So far, those plans have stalled, but she said she still thinks affordable housing should be a higher priority than entertaining visitors.

"We do not need to be competing with the private sector in the restaurant [and] rental market industry," she said. "If we think this is something that can't be affordable housing, then we should sell the building, keep the money and do something else with the money."

Goodman said a visitor center should be located in a more central part of downtown. Meet Minneapolis, the group that works with the Convention Center to market the city, has been in talks about developing such a facility downtown.