Commissioners OK Lease for Gwinnett Center Hotel

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Gwinnett County commissioners took an important step in the plans for a headquarters hotel at Gwinnett Center.

On Tuesday, commissioners authorized Chairman Charlotte Nash to execute a lease agreement with the Development Authority and other documents to facilitate the construction on about five acres on the grounds of the Gwinnett Center.

The resolution authorizes the Development Authority to assign the lease to the Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau, which currently manages the Gwinnett Center property at 6400 Sugarloaf Parkway.

“An onsite hotel at Gwinnett Center has been in the master plan for years, but now we’re able make it happen without any financial obligation for construction or hotel operations by the County, the Development Authority, or the Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau,” Chairman Nash said in a news release.

The GCVB chose a proposal by North Carolina-based Concord at Sugarloaf LLC as the best of four submitted.

Gwinnett Center is home to the 50,000-square-foot Gwinnett Convention Center, the 700-seat Gwinnett Performing Arts Center, the Jaqueline Casey Hudgens Center for the Arts, and the 13,000-seat Arena at Gwinnett Center.

According to GCVB CEO Preston Williams, the project represents a $70 million investment with no public dollars involved. “Plans call for a full-service, first-class Marriott hotel of up to 12 stories,” said Williams.

The Gwinnett Daily Post reported the planned hotel to be a 300-room Marriott.

“The addition of an on-site headquarters hotel will help attract conventions, trade shows, meetings, performers and audiences to spend their money in Gwinnett County – and that’s good for our local economy and for all of us who live here,” Nash added.