Hensel Phelps Construction Co. is on board as the project design-builder, and the Baltimore Hotel Corp. is acting as developer of the upscale hotel on behalf of the city. The project is scheduled to reach completion in the summer of 2008.

The Hilton Baltimore is located in the bustling Inner Harbor and will be physically linked to the 1.2-million-sf Baltimore Convention Center by a sky bridge. Encompassing 883,000 sf, the 19-story tower will be designed in an L-shape by RTKL Associates and will feature 62,000 sf of meeting space--including a 25,000-sf ballroom that will be the largest ballroom in the city.

Also included in the plans are an unspecified amount of retail space, as well as a parking facility to accommodate 550 vehicles. "This project will enable us to attract the kind of large conventions that we currently cannot accommodate," says Baltimore Hotel Corp. chairman MJ Brodie.