Groundbreaking held for Convention Center hotel

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) —  More than five years has passed since the Wilmington Convention Center opened for business. Now with plans to open a hotel, a groundbreaking was held Friday to get the process started.

The city has an agreement with Harmony Hospitality to build a 186-room, full service Embassy Suites Hotel between the convention center and the Cape Fear River.

Today’s event comes more than a year after a deal closed to purchase the land and seven months after an appeals court ruling cleared the way for the $33.6 million dollar hotel.

Mayor Bill Saffo says they lost a lot of conventions because the center did not have an adjacent full service hotel so he thinks this new addition will draw in more people to the city.

“It’s been in the works for over five years so to see this happen today is great,” Saffo said. “There has just been a lot of work that has gone on behind the scenes with the city’s staff and with the private developer. It’s just an accumulation of a lot of work over a long period of time and we are just happy it is finally here today.”

The hotel will also have a rooftop bar with an awarding-winning view.

The hotel is expected to open in the spring of 2017.