Omni Unveils Design of MCC Hotel

Today officials unveiled a design of exposed steel and limestone for a hotel to complement the new convention center already underway in downtown Nashville. The 21-floor Omni Hotel is expected to open just a few months after the Music City Center, in 2013.

The hotel will be south of the Country Music Hall of Fame, which is expanding between the two. They’re both just across 5th Avenue from the new convention center.

Some had voiced concerns about having the hotel open in time to support the convention center within its first few months. But Metro Finance Commissioner Rich Riebeling says it wasn’t a close call.

“The people that – early in the life of the convention center, in the spring – know the hotel won’t be ready and so that’s already been worked out. Sure it’d be great to have them simultaneously, but within a few months of each other won’t pose any problems long-term.”

Riebeling says the hotel construction will mean another 500 to a thousand jobs, and will break ground this summer.

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For full disclosure, Rich Riebeling is a member of WPLN’s board of directors.

EXTRA:

The designs unveiled today leave the door open on construction of a possible skywalk for pedestrians to cross 5th Avenue above traffic, says Joe Saatkamp, Vice President of Design and Construction:

“Currently it’s not in the scope of the project, but both buildings – the Music City Center, as well as the hotel – have been designed to allow for that structure to be built at a later date.”