Two new hotels are set to rise across from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, expanding the hospitality options for travelers and employees alike. This initiative reflects a local push for development near the aviation hub. LaPine Legacy LLC, in collaboration with Ceres Enterprises, a firm experienced in hotel development, is spearheading the project, expected to commence construction next summer, with the Wyndham-branded WaterWalk scheduled for completion between late 2026 and early 2027, as reported by cleveland.com.
Consisting of a 124-room WaterWalk by Wyndham and potentially a Marriott's SpringHill Suites, according to LaPine Vice President Richard Marshall, the endeavor is underpinned by the sale of 2.9 acres of city-owned real estate facilitated by the Cleveland City Council for $140,000. This parcel complements the eight acres already owned by the developers. Marshall also highlighted the sustained demand his company has observed at their existing properties: The Orbit Hotel and the Centaur apartments enjoy full occupancy, igniting optimism for the new project's potential. This sentiment echoes the city council's ambitions to leverage unneeded airport land for tax revenue generation and service offerings, two aspects in critical need post the demolition of the Sheraton Cleveland Airport Hotel, bemoaned by Councilman Charles Slife in an interview with WKYC.
The assembly of this estimated $60 million development further features integrating two new restaurants, enhancing the culinary landscape with potential newcomers to the area, such as Portillo's or Fatburger, amid discussions of a retro-themed McDonald's. Named NASA Park in neighboring reports, the site's close proximity to NASA Glenn Research Center underlines its strategic position, primed to serve a clientele of aerospace professionals and transient airspace visitors, as outlined by Cleveland19.
Development around the airport isn't solely about expanding hospitality; it carries the potential to transform underused land into a pulsating nexus for economic activity, a vision that was shared by Bryant Francis, Director of Cleveland Hopkins airport, during a city council committee meeting where he professed the beneficial nature of the increased hotel inventory – pointing out the imbalance of available lodging for an airport the size of Cleveland Hopkins, in a conversation quoted by cleveland.com, reaffirming local leadership's support for developments that fetch both revenue for Cleveland and convenience for its people, the adjacent NASA Glenn Research Center serves, inadvertently perhaps, a beacon for the cosmic dreams of this earthbound project.
