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Westin Breaks Ground on Hotel at Riverfront Wilmington
7/13/2012
WILMINGTON, Del.—The Westin hotel at the Wilmington Riverfront will evolve from paper plans to an active construction site when Westin executives, officials from the Riverfront Development Corporation, developers, and state and local officials break ground on the $37 million facility later this morning.
Connected to the 87,000-square-foot Chase Center on the Riverfront, the 10-story LEED certified hotel—Wilmington’s first full-service property in nearly 20 years—will feature 180 rooms, a pool, a full-service restaurant and bar, meeting space, a fitness center, and a law center.
Senator Tom Carper, Congressman John Carney, Delaware Economic Development Office Director Alan Levin, Wilmington Mayor Jim Baker, Mark Bickford of Sodexo and David Pollin and Rob Buccini of The Buccini/Pollin Group (BPG), developers of the Westin Wilmington, will join event emcee Michael S. Purzycki, RDC Executive Director, in a groundbreaking ceremony later today, marking the start of construction of the hotel.
When completed, the Westin Wilmington will employ 123 people. It is projected to generate $3.9 million in state and city tax revenues in its first three years.
Construction of the Westin Wilmington project is being privately funded. The RDC board approved the $3 million sale of a .75-acre parcel of land to (BPG) for the hotel and a $3 million loan guarantee to the organization backed by a mortgage on the Chase Center. The City of Wilmington also provided a $1 million loan guarantee for the project. The hotel will be managed by Pollin Miller Hospitality Strategies, a BPG affiliate.
“We believe that the Westin Wilmington represents a culmination of the decades-long Wilmington Riverfront redevelopment effort,” said Dave Pollin, in an announcement. “We have a terrific property planned that will support area businesses, welcome visitors to Wilmington and, we think, help draw more and more people to this dynamic city. We appreciate the support we’ve received from the Riverfront Development Corporation, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, the City and the State. We look forward to creating hundreds of construction and permanent jobs, enhancing the region’s tax base and welcoming our first guests in early 2014.”
The ceremonial shovels will mark the start of construction less than two months after the RDC announced plans for the hotel.
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