As the owners of the Des Moines Marriott Downtown invest millions to renovate the property, the question remains of how long it will remain the headquarters hotel for the Iowa Events Center.

According to Polk County Administrator Mike Freilinger, the Board of Supervisors is expected to make a decision later this year on how to proceed with a study suggesting the need for a new 450-room hotel at the Iowa Events Center.

“We’re probably going to make a presentation to the Board of Supervisors before the end of this year asking for permission to do our authorization to issue requests for quotes,” Freilinger said. “If the board approves, we’ll select a developer and then proceed with the project.”

Last year, the supervisors hired a hospitality consulting firm called Pinnacle Advisory Group to complete a market and feasibility study to evaluate the need for a headquarters hotel for the Events Center. Supporters of a new hotel say it would help the center attract new convention business.

“More space gives you more opportunity,” said Vicki Comegys, director of sales and services for the Greater Des Moines Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We talked with a couple of groups just lately that would not look at a bid from Des Moines because we did not have a hotel with 400 rooms or more attached to our convention facilities.”

But several downtown hoteliers are concerned that a new hotel will only add to their problems with low occupancy.

“Building a hotel does not create a need for a hotel,” said Bob Conley, owner of R.J. Conley Hotel Group, whose properties include the Holiday Inn Mercy Campus. “We have a marvelous headquarters hotel right now with the downtown Marriott. Eventually, the Events Center will have its own hotel, but the market can’t support it right now.”

According to data complied by Smith Travel Research, occupancy rates in downtown Des Moines averaged only 62.5 percent between 1993 and 2005.