New hotel with Kennedy Space Center views to rise in Titusville
By James Dean
Florida Today – March 20, 2019
By the fall of 2020, guests at a new five-story Titusville hotel may enjoy prime views of rocket launches from a rooftop deck situated directly across the river from Kennedy Space Center and its visitor center. Delaware North, operator of the KSC Visitor Complex, will build the 152-room Courtyard by Marriott next to the former U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame building off of State Road 405. “The increased interest and activity in our country’s space program makes this the ideal time to open a new, family-friendly hotel near Kennedy Space Center and the Visitor Complex,” said Scott Socha, president of Delaware North’s parks and resorts division, in a statement.
BBL Hospitality is developing a 118-room Hyatt Place slated to open this fall, featuring a fifth-floor private room for viewing launches from KSC or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
“I would like to have the shovel in the ground before the summer if we can,” Gregory Lee, a lawyer representing Delaware North from Baker Hostetler in Orlando, told the city council.
Construction is expected to create about 50 jobs. Another 35 part-time and full-time positions will run the hotel. “It’s an amazing thing that’s happening right now.” – Peter Cranis, executive director of the Space Coast Office of Tourism.
Growth in commercial space launches and manufacturing is driving the new hotel interest near the spaceport.
Led by SpaceX, the Space Coast hosted 20 rocket launches in 2018, not including offshore missile tests. The Air Force says more than 30 launches are possible this year.
In addition, KSC’s Exploration Park, adjacent to the Visitor Complex located 6.4 miles from the hotel site, will soon be home to three rocket and satellite factories run by Blue Origin, OneWeb Satellites and Firefly Aerospace.
And Delaware North now sees the KSC Visitor Complex, which welcomed a record 1.7 million guests last year, as a destination that many families — not just hardcore space junkies — may want to take more than a day to explore.
The complex in 2013 opened the $100 million Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit, in 2016 the $20 million Heroes and Legends attraction incorporating a revamped U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, and last year a new Astronaut Training Experience.
After moving the Hall of Fame from its former mainland site, Delaware North in 2017 bought about 18 acres from NASA that includes the old Hall of Fame building and new hotel site. Plans for the vacant Hall of Fame building are still being assessed.
The Courtyard by Marriott will include 14 suites, 800 square feet of meeting space, a large outdoor pool and the rooftop viewing deck with a bar. Delaware North said it would incorporate “appropriate space-inspired touches” that aligned with Marriott’s brand standards.
Courtyard by Marriott has more than 1,100 hotels in 47 countries. Delaware North operates 35 hotels and lodging sites, mostly in the U.S., and the new property near KSC will be its first in Florida.