Groundbreaking set for Convention Center hotel

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — More than five years after the Wilmington Convention Center opened for business, the city will finally break ground on the hotel later this month.

The city and developer Harmony Hospitality will host a groundbreaking ceremony for the Embassy Suites on Feb. 12 at 11 a.m.

The 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, 186-room hotel. A taxpayer and the owners of the Hilton Riverside had claimed the city subsidized private enterprise with a low sale price for the land.

Harmony Hospitality agreed in 2012 to build the Embassy Suites on three quarters of an acre between the Convention Center and the Cape Fear River, but several delays and the legal challenge followed. The hotel will include a full-service restaurant, bar, pool and additional meeting space.

City leaders have long said an attached hotel will be essential for the success of the Convention Center, which hosted its first event in November 2010.

A city spokeswoman says construction on the hotel should start later this month.