Conference center shows business boom, owner says

November 05, 2012, 9:00 pm by Adam Troxtell

The Riverbend Conference Center sits right next to the Hampton Inn On the Lake, which Reese owns through his company Live Oak Lodging. Since early October, it’s already hosted three business retreats, bringing people to the Hampton and, subsequently, to the local shops and restaurants. Its grand opening and ribbon cutting is today, Nov. 6, at 4:30 p.m. followed by an Election Day watch party.

"We think it’s going to work really well,” Reese said. "One of the things we didn’t have is a conference space for hotel guests. We would market the Hampton and Marble Falls, and come up short. These people are [staying] for two nights, and they’re downtown. So, when they take a break, they go shopping or eat” locally.

The conference center, which used to be Riverbend Art Gallery, has three meeting rooms, the biggest of which is the Guadalupe room. The grand opening watch party will be held, mainly, within its 2,167 square feet of space, with results streaming in on one of the major news networks projected onto a large screen.

For more on this story, see this Tuesday's Highlander.