Downtown Wilmington's skyline could see more tall buildings with proposed hotel complex

Downtown Wilmington could have another hotel added to its skyline in the near future, with plans for development proposed near the Port City's riverfront.

Plans for hotel development have been proposed at 1 Hanover St., Wilmington, located at the intersection of Brunswick and Nutt streets, according to Pre-Technical Review Committee submittals. The lot includes just under 1.3 acres and is zoned for Wilmington's Central Business District.

The Pre-Technical Review Committee submittals for the new hotel were reviewed by the city's Technical Review Committee on Thursday, Lauren Edwards with the city's communications office said in an email. The next step in the process would be for the applicant to submit for a Formal Technical Review Committee review.

Currently, vacancy on the lot means development could begin without the need for demolishing an existing property, according to the submittal. The lot last sold for $2.85 million in 2019 to Circle Marina Car Wash Inc., according to the city's development tracker.

The development would include two seven-story buildings with just over 14,850 square feet per floor, according to preliminary site plans submitted by Ideal Hospitality Investments in Georgia. The buildings would be adjacent to a parking lot that includes 18 parking spaces, featuring two accessible spots.

Both buildings would contain a total of 340 guest rooms, with 180 rooms in one tower and 160 rooms in the other, according to site plans. The buildings would take up just over half of the available lot with the height of each building not to exceed 96 feet.

Ideal Hospitality Investments is a hotel management company containing Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn, Marriott, La Quinta, and Hyatt hotels within their portfolio , among others. The company has brought other hotel developments to the Port City, including a Home2Suites in midtown.

CSD Engineering of Wilmington worked alongside Ideal Hospitality Investments in order to generate preliminary plans for the development, according to the submittal.

The area in and around Wilmington's Central Business District is currently home to five other hotel locations, including Hotel Ballast, Aloft, Embassy Suites by Hilton, Courtyard by Marriott, and Hampton Inn.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Downtown Wilmington's skyline could see more tall buildings with proposed hotel complex