New downtown hotels spark optimism
Construction of the Courtyard by Marriott at Second and Grace streets continues.
Buy PhotoMike Spencer
Buy PhotoMike Spencer
Published: Monday, March 25, 2013 at 11:03 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, March 25, 2013 at 11:03 a.m.
The number of hotel rooms in downtown Wilmington could soon more than double if all projects currently in the works come to fruition.
Facts
Planned hotel projects in downtown Wilmington:
Courtyard by Marriott – 124 rooms, Second and Grace streets.
Hotel Indigo – 143 rooms, 1 Hanover St.
Embassy Suites – 186 rooms, adjacent to Wilmington Convention Center
Several other sites in the central business district are also being considered for new hotels.
But is there enough demand to warrant adding more than 400 new rooms to the Port City's riverfront?
Or, in other words, is this beginning to look like too much of a good thing?
"We don't think we will be overbuilt right now," said Kim Hufham, CEO of the Wilmington and Beaches Convention and Visitors Bureau.
More hotels are a good thing in helping to attract more and larger groups to the Wilmington Convention Center, Hufham said. The addition of these downtown hotel rooms "would give us the inventory so we could market to larger groups, for people to be able to stay overnight within walking distance of the convention center."
The roster of new projects downtown includes one hotel that's under construction and two others in the works – make that possibly three – and at least one other prominent piece of property being marketed as a prime site for a future hotel.
There are 4,458 rooms in Wilmington and 6,283 in New Hanover County, plus 1,520 rental units such as condominiums and cottages, Hufham said.
But being within walking distance of a targeted destination is very important for hotels' success, said Margo Metzger, spokeswoman for the N.C. Bureau of Tourism, Film and Sports Development.
There are around 400 rooms downtown now, Hufham said, and that includes not only the Hilton Wilmington Riverside and the Best Western Coastline Inn, but inns and B&Bs as well.
Add to that 453 rooms if the three hotels in the works right now are all built.
The 124-room Courtyard by Marriott, under construction at Second and Grace streets, is scheduled to open later this year, said Tushar Zaver, of developer CN Hotels in Greensboro.
The 143-room Hotel Indigo, to be located at 1 Hanover St., may begin construction as soon as June if it gets the required permits, said Kyle Myers project manager for the development by USA InvestCo.
The proposed 186-room Embassy Suites Convention Center hotel should break ground this summer, said Brooks Johnson, director of development for Harmony Hospitality in Virginia Beach.
Developers Todd Toconis and David Spetrino have another property downtown under contract with a hotelier, Toconis said, but he would not give the address. He said he would have something to announce in two weeks.
Additionally, the owner of the land at 101 N. Front St. – site of the ill-fated The View condominium project – is casting a net that includes hoteliers.
"We are looking at multiple development concepts, including a hotel," said Cape Fear Commercial's Brian Eckel, who is providing development consulting services to the owners of the site.
Wilmington isn't by itself in hotel growth.
The lodging market is strong across North Carolina, said Lynn Minges, president and CEO of the N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association.
"We have seen inventory in North Carolina grow for several years, including when the economy was down," she said.
Wilmington's hotel numbers are among the highest in the state, Minges added.
"Occupancy was up 10 percent (in the Wilmington area) last year. Average daily rates were up. Rooms sold were up 10.7 percent last year," she said. "These are not hotels sitting empty."
Across the state, there are 77 hotel projects in the pipeline – 16 in construction, 32 in the final planning stage and 29 in planning, said Metzger. Room demand in North Carolina was up 3.2 percent last year to a record, she said.
Across the nation, hotel occupancy is expected to rise 0.8 percent, to 61.9 percent, this year, according to research by Smith Travel Research.
Room rates are also going up. The average daily rate is forecast to increase 4.9 percent, to $111.27, the company reported.
Harmony Hospitality in Virginia Beach, which is developing the Embassy Suites, isn't worried about a potential oversupply of rooms downtown.
There will be plenty of business to go around, said Brooks Johnson, Harmony's director of development.
Others feel the same way.
Developers "are making an investment in the downtown. Let the free market build wherever they see fit," Minges said. "They are keenly aware of the market and what it would support.
"When you see that kind of growth," she said, "signs are real strong for Wilmington.
Wayne Faulkner: 343-2329
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