Music City Center to Create $135 million in New Spending, According to Report

The new convention center planned for downtown Nashville would generate an additional $135 million in spending each year, according to a consultant hired by the city. The analysis was released Wednesday.

The consulting firm hired to make sure there was enough demand for a new convention center has also now estimated the economic impact. HVS Consulting says by 2017, spending related to the convention center will generate $12 million in local tax revenue not dedicated to paying for the facility. The $40 million annual debt payments are supposed to come from a set of tourist taxes.

Mayor Karl Dean says the estimates are “as conservative as they can get” and don’t include the impact of a new headquarters hotel or the possible transformation of the old convention center into a medical mart.

“We’re going to have this medical mart that the governor and I announced six weeks ago. We’re going to have the hotel. None of that, none of those revenues, none of the economic developments that come out of that are part of the finance package.”

Dean has not proposed a way to pay for a headquarters hotel, but says there will be one.

The Metro Council is scheduled to take a final vote on the convention center’s financing package January 19th.