MARRIOTT CENTER CITY
Charlotte, NC
In late 2012 Marriott International purchased a building in downtown Charlotte that was owned by an asset manager with a great quantity of the Marriott Brand Franchises in their portfolio. The Marriott team reclaimed this property with an immense vision and goal. Their intent was to recreate the Marriott image and appearance – to redefine the perception of how hotel space is viewed through a new and dynamic customer demographic. Coined M-Beta, this inaugural shift was set to be a show piece to other franchise owners to prove what can be done to existing properties around the world. The transformation had to be cutting edge, timeless, driven towards an ever-changing market and ultimately increase revenue and profits in all departments. Given that there wasn’t yet a defined design program, budget or schedule – selecting the right team was paramount.
With the recent success many Barringer team-members had on the Ritz-Carlton project, Marriott reached out for help during the conceptualization phase. Barringer aided in the selection of the entire design team and had a key voice in driving the design to a magnificent but reasonable end product. Through all stages of preconstruction, Barringer collaborated with the newly defined team ensuring the dreams of the visionaries would comply with local building code, was actually construct-able, increase value to the owner, reduce waste, maximize efficiency, and of course meet the overall project goal while leaving a carefully thought-out product for the facilities management team that would be living with the property long term.
After approximately 1.5 years of visioning, design, budgeting, and scheduling construction finally began. The team worked together to transform over 400 guest rooms and all common areas of the hotel; Construction lasted just under 2 years. The finished product is viewed as a huge success for all that were involved. Despite many challenges, mainly attributed to the age of the existing building, Marriott has claimed that this project was the single most successful project completed within the greater Marriott portfolio.
“Team Barringer, I just wanted to say Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You and your whole team have been a pleasure to work with for this entire project. You guys should be very proud of what you helped all of us at Marriott create. Great team you have.”
Barry Weitman, Marriott
