The Corky McMillin Companies have leased 11.9 acres of land in Liberty Station to the Huntington Hospitality Group for $6.5 million, according to Community Relations Manager Greg Block.
As part of the deal, Huntington will build a two-part complex that includes a 200-room Courtyard Hotel by Marriot and a 150-room Hilton Homewood Suites in the hotel district of Liberty Station.
As a separate project, the site will be the future home to about 24,000-square-feet of retail space and includes the existing Conference Center and the USS Recruit, which is a former Navy training ship and now a California State Historical Landmark.
The 33,000-square-foot Conference Center, originally a Navy chapel, will be renovated and be open for private and public use. The USS Recruit is a landlocked ship built to train Navy personnel and will be converted to a museum, Block said.
Along with the construction of the hotels, developers plan to include a waterfront esplanade, two trails that will lie alongside the boat channel and provide community access to the water.
This is the latest stage of the long-term development plan for Liberty Station, which includes a 650-room hotel that will eventually replace the current Park ‘N Fly structure. The redevelopment plan is expected to bring more than 8,000 jobs to the area and an estimated $3.2 million in annual Transient Occupancy Taxes.
“It will be a big benefit to this community.” Block said. “The city and the Convention and Visitors [Bureau] are always looking for more hotel rooms for conventions.”
The Huntington is based in Erving, Texas, and has been working with McMillin on this venture for about four years. Huntington has developed hotels in California and Maryland, according to Block.
The San Diego Redevelopment Agency still owns Liberty Station and is working with McMillin to implement the long-term redevelopment plan. The 361-acre community will soon be home a 46-acre park. The Station also includes a Civic Arts and Culture center, as well as a nine-hole golf course, an education district and a hotel district.