$66M Hampton Inn Hotel breaks ground in Ponce with mixed financing
Construction is expected to last 24 months.
The Fleming Hotel Hampton Inn Ponce, a new eight-story, 130-room property, began construction on Monday, with an investment of $66.7 million — including $22.7 million in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds — Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro Pierluisi and other officials announced.
The new hotel, which is part of the 150,000-square-foot Ponce Business Center complex, which includes a five-story office building and additional restaurant areas, received a $25 million construction loan from Banco Popular and another $19 million in tax credits from the Department of Economic Development and Commerce (DDEC, in Spanish). The hotel will feature meeting rooms, restaurants, gym facilities and a pool, among other amenities.
Derek Fleming, project developer, and head of Fleming Hotel LLC, said the first tenant in the office tower will be Starbucks. He also said the hotel, located across from Centro Médico Episcopal San Lucas and near the Veterans Outpatient Clinic, will be marketed to draw medical tourism in the southern town.
“This innovative initiative, unique in the region, not only offers first-class medical services, but it’s also an area that promotes interaction between professionals, patients and the public,” said Fleming, adding that the hotel will include a casino “to boost the area’s entertainment offerings.”
The construction is expected to last 24 months and will create 349 jobs during this phase and 291 once in operation.
“The Ponce Business Center will not only be a center of economic activity, but also a meeting point for our community, strategically located in the Ponce health corridor,” Fleming noted.
The financing is part of an $800 million allocation from the Economic Development Investment Portfolio Program (IPG), aimed at boosting the Puerto Rican economy through the execution of large-scale projects, said Puerto Rico Housing Secretary William Rodríguez.
“The construction of the Hampton Inn Ponce is a clear testament of our commitment to Puerto Rico’s economic revitalization through recovery funds,” Rodríguez said. “This project will not only respond to the growing demand for hospitality and office services in Ponce, but will also serve as an economic engine, providing numerous employment opportunities and strengthening tourism infrastructure.”
“This investment under the CDBG-DR IPG Program is in addition to other projects that are already under construction. For example, the El Conquistador Hotel, the Hampton-Homewood Hotel and the expansion of the Ponce Health Sciences University are some of the entities that have ongoing projects that we’re helping to finance for the benefit of our economy,” Pierluisi said.
Carlos Mercado, executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Co., added, “Due to its convenient location, this new hotel will become an ideal accommodation alternative to promote domestic, medical and business tourism. As we meet the growing needs of travelers, this expansion of the hotel offering in the southern region fosters the strengthening of our position as a top-level tourist destination.”
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