Baltimore Convention Center Headquarters Hotel

The 750-room hotel will carry the Hilton Hotel Corp. flag, but will remain under the ownership of Baltimore through the city's nonprofit Baltimore Hotel Corp.Developing a headquarters hotel has been one of the city's top economic pursuits over the last several years, as the property will help satisfy the demand for hotel rooms near the convention center, which underwent a $151-million renovation about eight years ago.

As has been previously envisioned by officials, the new hotel will have a direct physical connection to the 1.2-million-sf meeting facility and will feature additional meeting space, as well as parking accommodations. Hensel Phelps beat out two other finalists for the design-build job. According to the office of Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, who announced the news at City Hall, the company came out on top in BDC's selection criteria, which covered such areas as project and leadership experience, finances, litigation and safety history, and comprehensive price submission.

Hensel Phelps will work with its area joint venture partners Doracon Construction and Banks Contracting. Other members of the project development team include architectural firm RTKL Associates and developers RLJ Development LLC and Quadrangle Development Corp. The project is on schedule to reach completion in 2008.