By Julian March, Courtesy of Star-News, Wilmington, N.C./McClatchy-Tribune Regional News
The developers working to build an upscale hotel next to the Wilmington Convention Center say they are planning to open in May or June of 2014.
Since February, the city has been negotiating a purchase and development agreement with Harmony Hospitality of Virginia, which has proposed building an Embassy Suites by the center.
In August, the city council voted to extend the negotiation period to Jan. 31, 2013. They were set to expire in September.
On Friday, developers presented more detailed plans about the $33.6 million hotel to the council. According a preliminary drawing, the Embassy Suites would be sandwiched between the convention center, its parking garage, the Riverwalk and the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce.
While the developers originally pitched a 194-room hotel, they later revised that number to 174 rooms because of site restrictions. Now, they are planning to have 186 rooms. The hotel would be 8 stories and have 162,866 square feet, including 6,589 square feet of meeting space. It will also include a full-service restaurant with a bar.
Brooks Johnson, the director of development for Harmony, said meeting the design standards of Embassy Suites has been the big holdup.
Since Embassy Suites is a subsidiary of Hilton, the hotel's design has to follow Hilton's brand standards.
"We're finally there," he said. "We did get the approval from Hilton, so the hard part is done."
The council members applauded the news. The approval on the hotel's design clears the way for Harmony to make a full application for a franchise license to operate an Embassy Suites.
City Manager Sterling Cheatham pointed out that the agreement requires the franchise application to be submitted by the end of November. Johnson said they are on track to meet that deadline.
Johnson also said Wells Fargo has approved a loan for the hotel. "We have another bank that's interested," he said, explaining they will explore that to see if they get a better interest rate. He said they have received competitive bids from construction companies to build the project.
The city has been trying to attract a full-service, upscale hotel to the property since 2007. This is the fourth time since then the city has tried to get a hotel developer on board. The convention center opened in 2010.
Council members seemed pleased to hear about the latest progress.
"Everything sounds positive, everything sounds good," said Mayor Bill Saffo.
(c)2012 the Star-News (Wilmington, N.C.)
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