EMU strikes deal with Marriott in effort to generate revenue from Eagle Crest conference center
The Marriott Hotel will take over day-to-day operations of the Eagle Crest Conference and Banquet Center in Ypsilanti.
Chris Asadian | AnnArbor.com
Eastern Michigan University's Eagle Crest Conference and Banquet Center keeps losing money.
Eastern Michigan University's Eagle Crest Conference Center.
Chris Asadian | AnnArbor.com
In effort to stanch the losses and turn a profit, EMU has struck a deal with the adjoining Marriott Hotel in Ypsilanti. The hotel will take over the day-to-day operations of the center, including booking, marketing and catering, and the university will get a cut of the earnings (ranging from 1 percent to 5 percent, depending on circumstances).
Up until now, EMU has operated the conference center and coordinated catering and hotel services with Marriott. Now, the venue will have "one voice speaking to the community," says hotel owner Jeff Long.
Board of Regents chair Roy Wilbanks estimates that the university will earn roughly $150,000 next year as a result of the agreement.
Long said the previous operating model of the hotel and conference center led to somewhat ineffectual marketing and contributed to a "difficult, at times, relationship" between the university and hotel. "It's a relationship that now makes sense," he said before signing the new agreement.
EMU will continue to own and operate the adjoining 18-hole golf course.
Kellie Woodhouse covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at kelliewoodhouse@annarbor.com or 734-623-4602 and follow her on twitter.
Comments
YpsiLarry
Wed, Apr 18, 2012 : 8:13 p.m.
Maybe they can use that revenue to replace the hundreds of trees they cut down along the Ford Lake shoreline! (without a state permit or permission from the land owners (Ypsi Twp) see before: http://www.eaglecrestresort.com/ and after: http://imgur.com/a/oOmDs#0
Fatkitty
Wed, Apr 18, 2012 : 3:13 p.m.
Eagle Crest should have been bull-dozed ten years ago.
YpsiLarry
Wed, Apr 18, 2012 : 8:15 p.m.
Are they starting at the shoreline and working up? See my main post.
Geoff Larcom
Wed, Apr 18, 2012 : 12:53 p.m.
Here is the press release from Eastern Michigan University that offers further detail on this new agreement. http://www.emich.edu/univcomm/releases/release.php?id=1334700091
Kellie Woodhouse
Wed, Apr 18, 2012 : 1:54 p.m.
Thanks for sharing Geoff.
sellers
Wed, Apr 18, 2012 : 12:52 p.m.
Sad to see the split - but the location is not ideal for a University based conference center - too far from campus (although location is nice in relation to road/freeway). Best wishes - the conference center seemed more modern and much larger than MSU's center in Troy (although MEC is very nice in it's own way :) ) yet didn't draw the kind of visibility and attention that MSU's did.