Wilmington city officials welcomed the new 96-suite Residence Inn by Marriott on North Market St. with a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday.
The new hotel on North Market, owned and run by Newark-based Canon Hospitality Management, is the first to open downtown in twenty years, according to a city spokesperson. It gives new life to a previously vacant office building.
Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki hopes it’s part of a larger renaissance in the city.
“We went through a period of self-doubt I think, for a while,” said Purzycki. “And all of a sudden … you know, Wilmington is back, we’ve got our mojo back, and people feel real good about our future.”
Peter Cha owns New York Dry Cleaners, just one block away from the new hotel on North Market St.
“I’ve been here 33 years, but both the sides of my block was empty for a long time,” Cha said. “That building was empty, and it’s occupied right now, so I’m happy. ”
Cha hopes the new hotel will increase foot traffic, but doubts it’ll bring much more business. That’s because hotels bring only short-term visitors, he said, who don’t tend to need his services.
The project was announced in 2015. Then-Mayor Dennis Williams called the new hotel an “anchor” that would “set this area ablaze.”
Other city officials admitted they’d had other visions for the space—namely market-rate residential units—but then came around to the idea of a hotel.
Buccini/Pollin, which owns or manages many hotels in the state, including a Westin attached to the Chase Center in Wilmington, is planning to open two new hotels on the Riverfront.
DNREC recently announced it is in negotiations with Buccini/Pollin-owned LLCs for this development, on two brownfield sites.
