Developers Break Ground on $272M, 600-Room Hilton Cleveland/Downtown Convention Center Hotel

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

Cleveland is getting ready to say hello to a new skyscraper. On April 28, ground was broken on the new Hilton Cleveland/Downtown Convention Center Hotel, a massive structure standing 32 stories tall. Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald and Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson joined Ted Ratcliff, senior vice president of operations for Hilton Worldwide, for the groundbreaking ceremony.

The new hotel will feature a 28-story tower with 600 hotel rooms, positioned atop a four-story podium of ballrooms, meeting space, retail and the hotel’s lobby. Amenities include approximately 55,000 square feet of meeting space, a restaurant, a lobby bar, a rooftop bar, an indoor pool and a fitness center. The hotel will also have underground connections to both the Cleveland Convention Center and the Global Center for Health Innovation.

The cost of the project is $272 million. The Hilton Cleveland/Downtown Convention Center Hotel will be constructed on the site of the demolished Cuyahoga County Administration Building, right in the heart of downtown. Cooper Cary, an Atlanta-based architectural firm, designed the project. It is being constructed by Turner Construction Co., Ozanne Construction Co. and Van Aukin Akins Architects. Hilton Hotels & Resorts will operate the hotel.

According to Cuyahoga County, the hotel’s construction will employ 25 percent small businesses, 7 percent female-owned businesses and 15 percent minority-owned businesses. Cuyahoga County and Turner Construction also plan to meet or even exceed residency goals for employees hired during the construction project, including 40 percent Cuyahoga County residency and 20 percent city of Cleveland residency.

Scheduled to open in 2016, the new hotel is expected to create 2,800 jobs construction jobs and 450 full-time jobs.

Photo credits: Cuyahoga County