On May 14, 2026, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, Allegheny County, and the City of Pittsburgh announced that Loews Hotels & Co. signed a Letter of Intent to build a new convention-center-connected hotel in downtown Pittsburgh. The project would put a 500-room Loews hotel directly attached to the David L. Lawrence Convention Center (DLCC). That is the same building that has hosted Anthrocon since 2006.
This is a long-term development story, not a 2026 or 2027 story. But it is the most consequential piece of Anthrocon-relevant infrastructure news in years, and the planning timelines for major furry conventions reward attendees who track these things early.
Here is what the announcement actually says, what is still uncertain, and what (if anything) it should change about how you book Anthrocon over the next several years.
The official announcement came from Governor Shapiro's office on May 14, 2026. Loews Hotels & Co. is the operator behind branded properties at Universal Orlando, Arlington's Live! by Loews, and the flagship Loews Regency in New York. The company signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to build a new 500-room hotel in downtown Pittsburgh.
Key facts in the announcement:
Critically, the announcement is a Letter of Intent, not a signed construction contract. Loews still needs to finalize lease terms with the convention center authority, complete due diligence, close financing, secure approvals from city planning and zoning, and break ground. Any of those steps can slip months or years.
Anthrocon is the largest convention the David L. Lawrence Convention Center hosts every year, with 18,357 attendees in 2025 and consistent year-over-year growth. The convention has used DLCC since 2006 and explicitly anchors its programming in that building.
The current Anthrocon hotel experience involves a short outdoor walk between DLCC and the host hotels: the Westin (the main block), Omni William Penn, Drury Plaza, Courtyard by Marriott, and AC Hotel by Marriott. In Pittsburgh's late-June heat that walk is fine. In a Pittsburgh thunderstorm it is less fine. A directly-attached hotel would change the convention experience meaningfully:
None of this is guaranteed. The hotel needs to actually get built, Anthrocon would need to negotiate into the new block, and the rate structure has not been discussed publicly.
The announcement was deliberately light on details that matter to attendees. As of May 19, 2026:
For the next several Anthrocon cycles, nothing changes:
If you are someone who tracks convention infrastructure as a hobby (and that is more of you than you might think), the next two milestones to watch are:
Pittsburgh has been trying to land a convention-attached hotel for more than a decade. Every few years a developer signs an early-stage agreement, then walks away when financing tightens. The May 14, 2026 announcement broke that pattern for a few specific reasons.
First, the financing structure mixes private capital with state, county, and city participation in a way that lowers Loews's exposure. The $30 million Pennsylvania commitment through the Local Share Account is a real subsidy, and the Allegheny County and City of Pittsburgh contributions further reduce the project's cost basis. A pure private build at this scale in this market would not pencil out at current rates. The blended structure does.
Second, Loews is currently in an expansion cycle. Live! by Loews entertainment-district hotels are opening in multiple US cities, the company has the operational capacity for a 500-room build, and the brand wants more convention-anchor inventory to balance its leisure-heavy portfolio.
Third, the DLCC has spent the last several years actively losing convention bookings to cities with attached hotel inventory. Industry sources have publicly described that competitive gap as the single biggest weakness of Pittsburgh's convention sales pitch. A connected hotel directly addresses the lost-bookings problem the convention bureau has been pointing at for years.
For Anthrocon specifically, this is the first piece of long-term infrastructure news that suggests the convention's commitment to Pittsburgh is mutual. DLCC has been a stable venue partner since 2006, but the surrounding hotel inventory has not kept up with the convention's growth. A dedicated 500-room attached property would close that gap.
Fursuiters care about hotel-to-venue logistics more than most attendees. The current Anthrocon walk from the Westin to DLCC is short, but it involves outside sidewalk in late June Pittsburgh weather, which can mean heat in the high 80s or thunderstorms with no covered route. A directly-attached hotel would mean fursuiters could move from a hotel room to the convention floor without ever stepping outside the building.
For attendees with mobility limitations, the same logic applies more strongly. Indoor connection between hotel rooms and convention space eliminates curb cuts, weather variables, and the time cost of crossing two streets in a wheelchair or with a mobility aid. The DLCC and Westin already meet ADA requirements, but ADA-compliant outdoor transit is still outdoor transit.
For staff and volunteers, who often work 14-hour days during the convention, the ability to take a 20-minute break in a hotel room without leaving the building changes the math on hotel selection. Today, only Westin block guests get that. With a Loews property attached, that inner-block experience expands meaningfully.
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