NEW URBAN DESIGN INSPIRED HOTEL PLANNED FOR DOWNTOWN NORFOLK
New Hotel to be Located near Proposed Light Rail Point

CHESAPEAKE, VA- Residence Inn by Marriott – a nine-story, 160-all suites hotel developed and managed by Chesapeake-based LTD Management Company - will be constructed in the heart of Downtown Norfolk, VA. The hotel will break ground in the fall of 2007 and is slated to open at the end of 2008. It will be located on property acquired from the City of Norfolk, which is bound by Duke Street to the west, Brambleton Avenue to the north, York Street to the south and Boush Street to the east.

The new Residence Inn will bring approximately 45 new employment opportunities to Norfolk. The hotel will add over $835,000 in tax revenues to the city during the hotel’s first year and $9.6 million in tax revenues during its first decade of operation. Guests of the Residence Inn by Marriott extended stay hotel will be able to take advantage of the retail, dining and entertainment opportunities that are plentiful in Downtown Norfolk and adjacent areas.

The new Residence Inn will be located near one of the proposed light rail access points for the Norfolk Light Rail Transit (LRT). The Norfolk LRT will extend from Newtown Road on the east, to the Fort Norfolk District adjacent to the Eastern Virginia Medical Center to the west and is expected to provide transportation to some four and a half million passengers annually. Kimberly Schlick, Vice President of Marketing of LTD said “we’re excited to be offering an innovative urban product design as a part of this Downtown Norfolk corridor’s emergence as a transit-oriented development area.”

“The city is delighted that LTD Management Company has agreed to construct downtown Norfolk’s first extended stay hotel,” said Mayor Paul Fraim. “The addition of this hotel will reinforce downtown Norfolk’s reputation as the most vibrant and exciting urban center in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It will also help the City respond to its growing business and tourism market.”

“We’re proud to be working with the City of Norfolk on our fifth hotel project,” stated Malay Thakkar, Managing Partner at LTD. “This design will fit with Norfolk’s dynamic and evolving culture, as well as the downtown area’s demand for an extended stay, upper tier hotel.”

John Nehmer & Associates is the architectural firm working on the hotel and HVS Compass will be handling the interior design.