1968: The Millennium Hotel in Cincinnati is across from the downtown Convention Center. It is designed so that blocks of rooms can be booked and offers additional conference space.
2001: The hotel is being renovated for $ 17 million.
October 2013: Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory announced that the city is working with the Singapore-based company, which owns the Millennium, on a feasibility study for a major renovation of the hotel.
February 9, 2017: Cincinnati tourism officials say Cincinnati needs a new convention center hotel because the Millennium Hotel is in such poor condition that conventions bypass Cincinnati.
March 14, 2017: Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune is publicly committed to the expansion of the Duke Energy Convention Center and replaces the Millennium Hotel. “We have to do brave things,” he said at the annual meeting of the Cincinnati Convention and Visitors Bureau.
02/28/2017: Rob Smyjunas, CEO of Oakley-based Vandercar Holdings, is buying a rehabilitation proposal for the hotel grounds, which include a new congress hotel and expanded conference space for the congress center. Nothing comes of it.
March 2019: Smyjunas emails Singapore billionaire Kwek Leng Beng, owner of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels PLC, asking if he would like to talk about a deal. Kwek does. There is no public mention of a pending deal.
March 2019: The hotel is in such bad shape Mayor John Cranley says that City could file a harassment lawsuit against the hotel, that could potentially close the hotel. Nothing happens.
June 13, 2019: Smyjunas and his wife Mary are each donating $ 5,000 to the Progress and Growth PAC of Cincinnati City Council, PG Sittenfeld. Sittenfeld is preparing to run for mayor of Cincinnati.
04/29/2019: The Cincinnati Center City Development Corp. announces their hope for a convention Hotel on Fifth and Plum Streetswhich is south of the Duke Energy Convention Center, rather than east where the Millennium Hotel is.
July 1, 2019: Vandercar signs a purchase and sale agreement with a representative of Millennium & Copthorne with the intention of building a four-star hotel or a better convention center on the site. There is no public mention of the deal.
August 7, 2019: The Vandercar deal goes public. Hamilton County Administrator Jeff Aluotto says a “Convention Center Hotel is an urgent priority” and the Millennium Deal has the potential to be a “game changer.” 3CDC pauses plans for its alternative convention hotel.
September 2019: City officials and the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners are reaching out to The Port to lead the project.
September 12, 2019: Portune, suffering from cancer, announces that he will no longer stand for election.
September 24, 2019: Hamilton County commissioners are debating whether Hamilton County’s taxpayers should pay the Millennium Hotel owner $ 1.3 million in cash from the county’s share of the hotel tax. The decision period is four days.
09/27/2019: With the $ 1.3 million secured but no budget in place to build a new hotel, The Port Board authorizes Laura Brunner to enter into a deal with Vandercar to accept the rights to the Millennium Hotel. The port is currently examining four options: a 600-room hotel; a 600-room hotel with an extension to the convention center; an 800-room hotel with an extension to the convention center; or a 1,000-room hotel with an extension to the congress center.
1-3 October: Brunner and Smyjunas negotiate the terms of the contract. During this time, Portune texted Brunner and Smyjunas that he feared the “fallouts” would be “quick and serious” if the deal failed. Brunner said she also received a call from Sittenfeld asking her to “close the deal” with Smyjunas.
October 4th 2019: Hamilton County and Port Authority officials announce a deal between Smyjunas and The Port. The county pays a $ 1.3 million down payment to Millennium & Copthorne Hotels.
December 31, 2019: Portune resigns from the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners.
January 1, 2020: After a last New Year’s Eve, closes the Millennium Hotel to the public.
January 15, 2020: Port’s board of directors unanimously approves the $ 59 million bond issue for the purchase and demolition of the Millennium Hotel. The bonds are covered by Hamilton County’s share of local hotel tax. The latter needs a vote from the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners.
January 25, 2020: Portune this of cancer.
January 28, 2020: Hamilton County commissioners are voting 2-1 to use the hotel tax to secure the bonds. The no comes from Commissioner Stephanie Summerow Dumas.
02/14/2020: The port buys the Millennium Hotel from Vandercar for $ 39 million, which covers the cost of the hotel paid by Vandercar, a $ 2.5 million development fee, and the costs associated with the deal.
02/15/2020: Vandercar is sending The Port an invoice for the $ 5 million renovation fee that he says was part of the deal as well. The port does not respond to the bill.
February 24th, 2020: Vandercar is suing the port for breach of contract, claiming the port still owes him the $ 5 million fee.
11/21/2020: PG Sittenfeld is charged with federal corruption charges. He is accused of having accepted campaign donations in exchange for a positive development vote in connection with 435 Elm St., a renovation project that the port is working on. This has nothing to do with the Millennium Hotel project, but is located across from the Millennium Hotel and the Duke Energy Convention Center.
Dec 8, 2020: Sittenfeld is blocked from the council.
March 29, 2021: Demolition of the Millennium Hotel begins.
July 7, 2021: Brunner gives a 7.5 hour testimony in the infringement suit. The deposit has not yet been completed and will be continued at a later date.
July 28, 2021: Dumas tells The Enquirer’s podcast “That’s So Cincinnati” that the county is considering several plans for the Millennium Hotel location. Ideas while a hotel is still under consideration include a dog park and outdoor event space for the convention center.
August 5, 2021: A court hearing is planned to consider whether some documents should be treated as confidential in the event of a breach, including what Brunner said. The decision rests with Hamilton County’s Common Pleas Court Judge Tom Heekin.
