Chinatown: New hotel to sit across from the Reading Terminal Market

By Alicia DiGiovanni and Mark Lauterbach

Hilton Hotels & Resorts’ new hotel will be built on top of this construction site.

The Parkway Corp. has plans to build a $60 million hotel at 12th and Arch streets. The new hotel will be located across the street from the Reading Terminal Market and the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

IIt will be equipped with 246 guest rooms and a parking garage with space to hold up to 860 cars.

“Between Chinatown and the convention center right here, I think this area sees a lot more visitors and tourists than the rest of the city,” said Adrianne Paerels, a resident of the area.

Since expansion of the convention center created a market for new hotel rooms, there has also been an increasing demand for rooms. The space set aside for the hotel was previously a parking lot owned by the Parkway Corporation.

The new hotel will be located on the corner of 12th and Arch streets.

The new hotel will be managed by Hilton Hotels & Resorts under its new brand called Home2 Suites and will be aimed at long-term travelers. Home2 Suites will be marketed as a brand of luxurious, extended-stay hotels comparable to Starwood Hotel’s W brand.

“Hopefully, a hotel like this can bring some heavy spenders into the city,” Paerels said.

The hotel is expected to be completed by the summer of 2013.

This article was created in partnership with Temple University’s capstone journalism course Philadelphia Neighborhoods.