The city received confirmation on Nov. 30 that Harmony Hospitality, Inc. met the deadline to submit an application to Hilton Hotels to build a $33.6 million, 186-room Embassy Suites as the convention center hotel. Embassy Suites is a Hilton brand hotel.
The deadline is included in the city’s current agreement with Harmony Hospitality, which stipulated that the application to get a license for a national hotel franchise had to be submitted by Nov. 30. Earlier this month, Harmony officials informed the city that acceptance of the application is largely a formality because the Hilton criteria for hotel construction must be approved before an application can even be submitted.
Harmony’s finalized application is a major milestone because it paves the way for the next steps that have to occur before construction begins, which includes completing project financing, finalizing an official purchase and development agreement with the city and the purchase of the property from the city to construct the privately-owned hotel.
The proposed 163,000-square-foot hotel would include a second story full-service restaurant and 6,600 square feet of meeting space. The all-suite hotel will be about the same height as the nearby Hilton Hotel.