Biotech conference says it is too big for Hub to host

Organizers of the BIO conference, which brings together the industry’s top companies and scientists, said it is still coming to Boston in 2012, but that future visits may be impossible unless the city expands its convention center. Organizers chose Philadelphia over Boston for the 2015 event because that city is already expanding its convention facilities.

“Boston just doesn’t have enough exhibit space,’’ said Robbi Lycett, vice president of conferences for BIO. The loss of BIO’s future business would be a huge blow to a region that prides itself on being a hub of the life sciences industry and would deprive Boston of millions of dollars in business. BIO’s conferences typically draw 20,000 attendees, who would spend at hotels, restaurants, and tourist attractions.

“If we can’t host the conference, we lose the opportunity to bring the industry’s leaders to our stage,’’ said Robert Coughlin, chief executive of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, a business association.

The news of BIO’s reservations goes to the heart of a debate over expanding the six-year-old Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. A panel of 25 public officials and business leaders is examining the size and scope of a possible expansion. So far, the panel has floated a plan to nearly double the size of the facility, to more than 1 million square feet, at a cost of nearly $1 billion. The group is expected to release final recommendations early next year.

“BIO’s concerns speak to all the reasons why we’re talking about the need for expansion and additional hotel rooms,’’ said James Rooney, executive director of the state agency that operates the convention center. He said the shortage of exhibit space and hotel rooms has already caused the South Boston convention center to turn away or lose out on hosting dozens of events, at a cost of $480 million in projected economic activity.

Skeptics, however, said that by some measures, the convention center still has not met projections for economic activity at its current size, and so does not deserve additional investment. Jim Stergios, director of the Pioneer Institute, a public policy research group, said the convention authority initially projected its business would generate more than 650,000 hotel room stays per year; instead it has produced only around 300,000.

“They’re asking us to just trust them on this when they failed the first time around,’’ Stergios said. “They’ve done a good job managing what they’ve been given, but this was probably something that shouldn’t have been built in the first place.’’

Rooney said bookings have fallen short, in part because the size of the center’s main exhibition hall was reduced by 80,000 square feet during construction. “The Pioneer Institute projected that this would be a white elephant and that Boston could never succeed as a convention city and we have generated over $3 billion in economic activity,’’ Rooney said.

Opened in 2004, the convention center has steadily grown, with attendance at events at more than 540,000 last year, up from 200,000 in 2005. But Rooney said the facility is now operating at maximum capacity and cannot host the largest conferences unless it expands.

He said the panel is considering expanding the amount of exhibit space to between 800,000 square feet and 1 million square feet, and building a second large hotel.

Any expansion would need approval and funding from the state Legislature and governor.

Lycett, the BIO conference planner, said Boston’s lack of exhibit space is its biggest problem. Her conference needs about 650,000 square feet for its main floor and an 80,000-square-foot ballroom for keynote speeches and other large events. The Boston facility now offers a 516,000-square-foot exhibit hall and a 40,000-square-foot ballroom.

Another problem is hotel rooms. Boston offers only about 1,700 rooms within walking distance of the convention center, requiring large conferences to shuttle attendees from hotels across the city. When the BIO conference was last in Boston in 2007, it spent $1 million on transportation.

“Attendees don’t like sitting in rush-hour traffic for 40 or 50 minutes to get to a meeting,’’ Lycett said.

Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.