$144M Mandarin Oriental to Open in the District

WASHINGTON, DC-The five-star global luxury hotel chain Mandarin Oriental International Limited has revealed that it will build a $144 million, 400-room hotel which will open in the spring of 2004, just months after the impending 2003 opening of the nearby Washington Convention Center. Construction on the project is expected to begin within the next two months.

The structure will be located in the southwest area of the city, not so far from the Washington Monument and the Capitol. Republic Properties Corporation is behind the hotel’s development, while real estate developer Lano International, Inc. and Armada/Hoffler Construction Company are on board as Mandarin’s partners in the deal. As for the financing of this multi-million dollar project, Mandarin will contribute an estimated $19 million, and the remaining funds will come via various other sources of financing including $85 million from syndicated bank facilities of Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale.

Despite the less-than-stellar quarter the hotel industry recently experienced–partially due to a downturn in tourism after the September 11 terrorist attacks–Mandarin officials are hardly squeamish about moving forward with this project. “We’ve had the plans in place for about two years,” Mandarin’s Wolfgang Holtner shares with GlobeSt.com. “September 11 has had no impact at all on the plan, except that the city of Washington was even more interested in having the project. Washington is even more of a focal point for the world since September 11.”