Convention center, hotel top downtown agenda. (Denver, Colorado)

Catch 22: Which one will come first?

A multimillion-dollar chicken-and-egg dilemma is hatching in downtown Denver, and its resolution will have a sweeping impact on the city's economy for years to come.

The "chicken" in this case is the proposed expansion of the Colorado Convention Center to twice its current capacity. The corresponding "egg" is the need for a large convention-center hotel.

While there are many questions surrounding these issues, it is clear that an expanded convention center doesn't make sense without additional hotel capacity and, conversely, a large hotel must be supported by an expanded convention center. Not only is this the intuitive belief of all the involved players and observers, it also was the finding of a recent study conducted on behalf of the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau.

"Expansion of the CCC ... does not appear warranted without the development of a new headquarters hotel in addition to the Adam's Mark expansion," reads the executive summary of the report, prepared by the Dallas office of Coopers & Lybrand and Denver-based Hospitality Real Estate Counselors Inc. "Without an expansion of the CCC, the Adam's Mark Hotel may be sufficient to serve Denver's …