New Castle Hotels & Resorts, along with Southwest Properties of Halifax, Nova Scotia, and JLK Global Fund International, began construction on a 178-key Courtyard by Marriott/Residence Inn hotel in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The dual-branded hotel will be the first Marriott property in the city.
The project is estimated to be completed in Q3 2018, and will comprise a 106-room Courtyard by Marriott and 84-suite Residence Inn in the Dartmouth Crossing lifestyle center, which is in close proximity to the Burnside Business Park, the largest eastern seaboard business park north of Boston or east of Montreal. The park is home to 2,000 enterprises and more than 30,000 employees.
“The dual-brand configuration has been tremendously successful for us in other urban areas like downtown Syracuse, N.Y., where land acquisition is costly,” said Gerry Chase, president and COO of New Castle. “I feel very confident that this project, with known and trusted development partners, and a proven product mix, will be completed in a timely fashion and ramp up quickly to serve the unmet needs of the Dartmouth business community.”
“Dartmouth Crossing is rapidly expanding with iconic brands and is attracting business travellers working in the greater Halifax region,” said Jim Spatz, chairman & CEO for Southwest Properties. “The hotel is well placed in an area that is becoming a primary shopping destination for Maritime Canada and an athletic hub for Halifax with the new four-pad ice arena and the existing Harbour East soccer and football fields. We believe in Dartmouth Crossing because of our great success with the hotel we built and opened with New Castle Hotels in 2009.”
New Castle and Southwest have partnered previously on the Residence Inn Moncton, New Brunswick, the Hampton Inn and Suites by Hilton Halifax-Dartmouth in Nova Scotia and The Algonquin Resort in St. Andrews, New Brunswick.
“Today’s travelers have varying and specific needs, and over 35 years, we’ve found that the combination of an upscale select-service hotel, coupled with an extended-stay product is an ideal way to satisfy most guests,” Chase said. “The nearest Marriott hotels are across the bridge in Halifax, so I’m sure that these two hotels will be very well received, particularly by the points-conscious business traveler.”