Wilmington's 'hotel row' continues at Riverfront

Jeff Neiburg | The News Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Officials break ground on Homewood Riverfront hotel Buccini/Pollin hosted a groundbreaking ceremony Tuesday morning to celebrate the new Homewood Suites hotel which will be completed in 14 months.

On his way to the site of yet another Wilmington Riverfront hotel, Rob Buccini said he was struck by the realization that few "developable land parcels" exist near the Chase Center on the Riverfront and surrounding area.

Tuesday morning, Buccini and others celebrated the groundbreaking of the new Homewood Suites hotel, which will be built next to an incoming Hyatt Place hotel in the shadows of the Chase Center and Westin hotel.

Buccini/Pollin's Vice President of Development Mike Hare even referred to Justison Street as "hotel row."

The Homewood, a Hilton hotel, is a $30 million project that Buccini said should be completed in 14 months. When they open, Homewood and Hyatt will mark three new hotel openings in the city in a little over a year. A new Residence Inn opened in March.

The two new hotels on Justison Street are expected to be a boon for the Chase Center, enabling it to host larger conventions.

BPG also has the rights to a Riverfront Marriott. But Buccini said the company will focus on completing the new Homewood before moving further with the next project.

"I think there will be a little pause in construction," Buccini said, once the Hyatt – owned by the ONIX Group – and Homewood are open.

BPG first announced plans to develop the 120-room Homewood and 200-room Marriott in early 2016. In 2014, the Wilmington company helped bring the city its first newly constructed hotel in 30-plus years when the Westin opened its doors.

That project received loan guarantees of $1 million from the city and $3 million from the Riverfront Development Corp., the state-funded agency tasked in 1995 with revitalizing the waterfront.

"Back in those days nobody could imagine that we would have three hotels," Gov. John Carney said. "Nobody could imagine that we would have thousands of people working here on the riverfront. Nobody could imagine that we would have over 1,000 people living on the riverfront. Folks just believed."

Riverfront traffic, on foot or bike and by way of motor vehicle, will only improve in coming months. Then Buccini and his company will have plenty of developable parcels to tackle on the other side.

"We look forward to going to the other side," he said. "It’s obviously a proven template."

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Contact reporter Jeff Neiburg at (302) 983-6772, jneiburg@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @Jeff_Neiburg.