WILMINGTON, Del.—Officials with PM Hospitality Strategies (PMHS), along with officials from a joint venture ownership group comprised of Buccini/Pollin Group and Westport Capital, announced the opening of the 180-room Westin Wilmington. Connected to the Chase Center on the Riverfront in Delaware, the hotel is the first Westin-branded hotel in the state and the first new-build hotel in Wilmington since 1980. PMHS will operate the hotel under a long-term agreement.
“The opening is another important step in the revitalization of Wilmington’s riverfront, and we are delighted to play a role,” said Joseph Bojanowski, president of PMHS. “This project has allowed us to showcase all of our management skills from planning to brand selection, from construction oversight to pre-opening. With the opening of this four-star hotel, Wilmington and the Chase Center are well positioned to be major players in the meetings and convention industry in the Mid-Atlantic region.”
“The new Westin may well be the most important Wilmington project in recent memory,” said Michael Purzycki, executive director of the Riverfront Development Corporation of Delaware, the state-funded, non-profit corporation which owns and operates the Chase Center. “A catalyst for Chase Center business, it is a symbol of Riverfront’s dynamic future, and surely will further enhance Wilmington’s reputation as an attractive, regional visitor destination.”
“We are thrilled to debut Westin Hotels in Wilmington’s dynamic Riverfront district, which has been transformed into a leading entertainment and cultural center,” said Brian Povinelli, global brand leader for Westin Hotels & Resorts and Le Meridien.
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver-designed hotel is within walking distance of such Fortune 500 companies as Barclay’s, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Capital One, and DuPont. The hotel features a 2,100-square-foot, state-of-the-art legal center with private offices and a hospitality area for meals. The center was purpose-built to support visiting legal teams that are participating in legal proceedings at the nearby Wilmington federal courthouse. Combined with the adjacent Chase Center on the Riverfront, the hotel/convention center complex offers a total of 92,000 square feet of conference space and a 24-hour business center.
“The PMHS team has extensive expertise in large, meeting-focused hotels, and we are confident that this property will be well received by meeting planners, while still perfectly sized to comfortably host business and leisure guests,” Bojanowski said. “The Westin Wilmington can handle and cater groups over 6,000 people in conjunction with the connecting Chase Center. The property also can easily handle more intimate business and social groups.”
