The City-owned convention center hotel, Hilton Baltimore, lost $5.2M last year after its assets depreciated by more than $8M, according to a financial audit. Many city hotels have struggled financially in the wake of riots following the death and arrest of Freddie Gray in April 2015.
The Hilton made nearly $3M less last year compared with 2014 and has underperformed for the past eight years, though it reported positive cash flow, according to the Baltimore Sun. The hotel The 757-room Hilton debuted in 2008 and overtook the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront as the city's largest hotel.
Baltimore City officials who pushed for the property had argued that the city lacked adequate hotel rooms to serve large conventions and that a hotel was needed next to the convention center. The city floated $300M in bonds to pay for the construction and has had to dip into its reserves to cover bond payments. [Sun]
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