Former Navy Yard in South Philadelphia Getting A Hotel
By John McDevitt
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Construction work is now underway for the Philadelphia Navy Yard's first hotel, and a ceremonial groundbreaking was held this morning at the South Philadelphia corporate center.
The "Courtyard by Marriott" hotel will have 172 guest rooms, meeting space, and will be LEED certified.
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"The site of another crane, the sounds of heavy equipment, I got to tell you, I love the smell of money first thing in the morning," Mayor Michael Nutter said at the ceremony, "because what this represents is more investment here in the City of Philadelphia: 400 construction jobs, 50 to 60 permanent jobs."
John Grady, president of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC), says the Philadelphia Navy Yard Corporate Center has been transformed over the last decade.
"This idea of an urban campus, where we combine manufacturing and research and office, is really the wave of the future," he says, adding that residential housing may be an option at the navy yard one day.
