Conference & Hotel Space in Berkeley

David Gelles, To draw larger attendance, build more guest rooms, East Bay Business Times, Feb. 2, 2007.

According to this article, the city of Berkeley has been turning away groups that would like to hold conferences here because of a total lack of conference space and hotel rooms. Berkeley only has approximately 1,200 hotel rooms, which means that it is unable to bid on conferences that would bring more than a few hundred people into the city at one time. It only hosts about 10 conferences a year that are not affiliated with UC Berkeley (another 30 conferences per year are university-related). The author cites this fact as a reason that economic development in downtown Berkeley has been “stunted,” but predicts that with the development of the Berkeley Charles hotel, slated to break ground in 2009, the problem will eventually be ameliorated. The article also predicts an expansion of the Berkeley arts district, beginning with the relocation of Berkeley’s art museum, which will draw more visitors to the city.

Natalie Kitchen