Raleigh, North Carolina, may get new hotel

1/27/2012

A North Carolina-based hospitality group recently secured tentative motel financing for a Residence Inn by Marriott to be built across from the Raleigh Convention Center, the News Observer reports.

The company must still submit a formal proposal to the city's Budget and Economic Development Committee, which needs to approve the idea before it can enter development.

Raleigh has endured a drought of hotel proposals since the economic downturn, and needs the additional rooms to supply guests when the convention center hosts conferences and events.

According to David Diaz, CEO of the Downtown Raleigh Alliance, an additional 500 to 700 rooms are needed in the downtown area to safely house everybody.

"It's been three years since this site has been looked at," Diaz said, as quoted by the news source. "It's just sitting there, not generating any tax dollars."

Raleigh city council members will ask Summit and all other interested parties for detailed proposals, with a deadline to be set within the next six months.

The news source notes in a separate article that a 126-room Hampton Inn & Suites will open later this year, becoming the first new hotel in the downtown area since July 2008.