Jan. 23–Local leaders are taking the next step in a bid to resurrect plans for a headquarters hotel on land next to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, but for the first time will seek other development ideas for the site as well.

In a request for qualifications issued this week, the Pittsburgh-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority not only wants to hear from developers interested in building the hotel but also those with other ideas for using the property at Penn Avenue and Tenth Street.

While the two parcels have long been designated for a mega hotel with 500 rooms or more, the SEA stated in the new request that it’s also open to pitches that may include retail, office, residential, restaurant, outdoor public spaces, or other commercial uses “that are economically viable” — either apart from or in conjunction with a hotel.

“We’re open to looking at different types of development or combinations. It’s not to say that the hotel doesn’t make the most sense. We don’t know that yet,” SEA executive director Mary Conturo said.

Given the location and the quest to bring more tourism and conventions to Pittsburgh, the headquarters hotel still “would seem to be the best use” for the site, county executive Rich Fitzgerald said.

“We just want to see what options are there and what somebody might be proposing,” he said.

Until recently, the plan to build a 500-room, full-service hotel attached to the convention center to supplement the 616-room Westin Convention Center Hotel already in place had been considered all but dead, primarily because of the large public subsidies required.

Forest City Enterprises originally was selected to build the hotel in 2003 but never got started — even with $34 million in state subsidies available to help with the $104 million project. The state money has since been reallocated for other work.

Five years ago, a request for proposals that attracted three hotel companies ended without a deal. At the time, developers wanted more than $50 million in public help for the project, according to state Sen. Wayne Fontana, SEA board chairman.

But with a growing tourism business and events like the National League of Cities conference and the NCAA men’s basketball tournament coming to Pittsburgh, Mr. Fitzgerald and Mayor Bill Peduto believe the time is right to revisit the hotel.

Because the market is changing, the hotel may not require the high levels of public subsidies it did in the past, Mr. Fitzgerald argued.

“When you see all the demand and how successful our tourism industry has been, Pittsburgh is a different city than it was back then,” he said. “The market has changed. We want to see what interest there might be from developers and hotel operators.”

However, that runs contrary to convention center hotel projects being done in other cities. For instance, the public is picking up the entire tab for a $272 million, 600-room hotel in Cleveland and nearly half the cost of a $520 million, 1,175-room hotel in Washington D.C.

In the request for qualifications, the SEA does not list any potential subsidy and, in fact, states that its goal is to “minimize the level of public financial participation in the project and to attain the most distinctive, highest-quality and marketable project possible.”

Mr. Fitzgerald pointed out that the request for qualifications was just a first step in gauging interest. If the SEA and local leaders find the ideas to their liking, a formal request for proposals will be issued, followed by negotiations with the selected developer. Responses are due Feb. 27.

Craig Davis, president and CEO of VisitPittsburgh, the local tourism group that has long pushed for the hotel, said the fact that the SEA also is considering possible mixed uses could work to the project’s advantage.

Adding elements like office, residential or retail to the hotel could help to make the project more financially feasible, he said.

“I think most developers look at the site as a natural for a hotel. If you mix in the idea of other uses, including condos, retail or apartments, it may help to bring the whole project to reality,” he said.

In a recent analysis making its case for a headquarters hotel, VisitPittsburgh estimated that the lack of such a hotel has cost the city more than 675,000 lost hotel room nights, nearly $377 million in lost revenue, and about $36 million in state and local taxes. If only 20 percent of those lost room nights were booked, the total impact would be nearly $82 million, the study found. It stated that the lack of concentrated hotel space is the second biggest reason conventions bypass Pittsburgh.

While Downtown has been in the midst of a hotel boom, with 1,500 rooms under construction or in the pipeline, VisitPittsburgh said most are of the “select service” variety that can’t provide the room blocks demanded by large conventions.

Mark Belko: [email protected] or 412-263-1262.