Connected Marriott hotel will complete Cincinnati’s reimagined Convention District
CINCINNATI, OH (July 22, 2026) – Construction is officially underway on the Cincinnati Downtown Marriott, a new 700-room convention headquarters hotel that will complete Cincinnati’s reimagined Convention District and strengthen the city’s ability to compete for larger meetings, conventions and citywide events.
The 21-story hotel, developed by Portman, will be directly connected by skybridge to the reimagined First Financial Center. The project represents the next major investment in Cincinnati’s convention package following the $264 million transformation of the convention center and surrounding district.
“This groundbreaking marks an important milestone for Cincinnati’s meetings industry,” said Julie Kirkpatrick, Interim President and CEO of Visit Cincy. “The connected headquarters hotel completes the convention package meeting planners have told us they need and strengthens our ability to compete for larger national conventions and citywide events. Together, the hotel, First Financial Center and surrounding district will create a more connected experience for planners and attendees from arrival through departure.”
Scheduled to open in late 2028, the Cincinnati Downtown Marriott will feature:
- 700 guest rooms
- 60,000 square feet of meeting space
- A 17,000-square-foot outdoor events terrace
- Multiple ballrooms and breakout spaces
- Ground-floor retail
- A direct skybridge connection to the Cincinnati Convention Center
The hotel will add the room inventory and event space needed to support larger convention groups while giving attendees direct access to the convention center and Cincinnati’s walkable downtown. Restaurants, arts and cultural attractions, entertainment venues and public gathering spaces are located throughout the surrounding district.
The groundbreaking follows the January opening of the reimagined First Financial Center, which includes 200,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit space, two ballrooms, 30 breakout rooms, new outdoor event areas and updated technology and building systems. Elm Street Plaza, a 2.5-acre public and event space adjacent to the center, is also part of the connected Convention District.
Together, the convention center, headquarters hotel and Elm Street Plaza position Cincinnati to pursue meetings and conventions of greater scale and economic impact while providing meeting planners with a more complete downtown convention package.
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About Visit Cincy
Visit Cincy connects the Cincinnati region's people and experiences with visitors and meeting attendees from around the world through sales, marketing, communications, and community-building strategies. The destination marketing organization is supported by nearly 500 businesses that join together in making Cincinnati, Hamilton County, and the Cincy region a world-class destination by offering their services, attractions, and facilities to visitors, meeting planners, and convention attendees. For more information, go to VisitCincy.com.
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