WORCESTER, Mass. — How much could the loss of 230 hotel rooms impact Worcester? Tim Murray, president of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce, believes the ripple effect would be enormous.

“It’s going to significantly impact the city and region’s ability to market conventions and host events at the DCU Center, Polar Park and other private sector venues,” Murray said. “We’ve had major employers here in the city call to express concerns they can’t bring in customers, vendors or do trainings in the area if they don’t have enough hotels for them to stay in.”

Earlier this week, Worcester Polytechnic Institute confirmed its plans to purchase the Hampton Inn & Suites on Prescott Street and the Courtyard by Marriott on Grove Street to offset a projected shortage in student housing. City leaders had only learned of the school’s intentions after discussions were underway.

Losing the two hotels would cut roughly 25% of the city’s total hotel rooms, and Murray said Worcester already lags behind cities like Boston and Providence on this front.

Given these widespread impacts and the $1.5 million which will be missing from the city’s tax rolls after both hotels are converted to student housing, he feels WPI was out of line entering these discussions without getting City Hall and local business leaders on the phone.

“It’s really unfortunate that the WPI president and her leadership team did not do their due diligence,” Murray said. “They did not talk to the city, did not do vetting to really understand the impact to the broader community, the city budget and various sectors of our economy. That’s not really a collaborative, open and transparent process in which people traditionally work to solve issues around this community.”

The Gateway Park development where both hotels are located is seen by many as an early success story in Worcester’s long line of revitalization projects this century, designed to be a mixed-use district focused on life sciences and biotechnology.

Murray feels in purchasing the hotels, WPI would be walking away from their commitment to the original vision.

He cited other examples of colleges finding solutions to their cramped campuses in a more collaborative way, including Clark University with the Gardner-Kilby-Hammond Revitalization Project.

“We were able to create workforce housing, affordable housing, create a new pad-ready site for the Boys and Girls Club fields, pad-ready sites for businesses, and allow for Clark University growth,” Murray said. “Those are the types of things that we want anchor institutions engaged in, working with the city, working with the private sector, other partners to work together to address mutual concerns.”

Initially, both hotels will continue to operate with the same capacity. WPI does not foresee the loss of any jobs for people currently employed at the hotels, and after the purchase, both buildings will remain on the city’s property tax rolls and generate hotel tax revenues while they continue to operate as hotels.

The Hampton Inn will be transitioned to student housing in 2026, while the Courtyard Marriott will continue to operate as a hotel through at least 2030.

WPI declined to comment on its plans beyond a letter released to the campus community earlier this week.

The letter, signed by Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Michael Horan and Senior Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Philip Clay, outlines details of the school’s plans which had previously not been disclosed due to ongoing confidential discussions.

“Many of you live in the city and therefore know that the Worcester housing market is extremely tight, with ever-increasing apartment rents and a vacancy rate of 1.7 percent, one of the lowest in the country,” the letter states. “This situation puts considerable strain on our students’ ability to find affordable housing and adds pressure to the city’s housing crunch. Our plans to increase our on-campus housing will not only help our students, it will also create space in the market for families and other renters impacted by the housing shortage.”