Construction underway at long-delayed Palm Beach hotel

Construction is finally kicking off on a hotel adjacent to Palm Beach County’s convention center.

The project had faced more than a decade of setbacks and delays, but crews began excavating the site in late-May, and vertical construction on the 403-room Hilton hotel is scheduled to begin later this month, according to the Palm Beach Post. Construction is expected to be finished by the end of 2015.

“The first thing [the hotel] is going to do is allow us to bid on numerous pieces of business that have wanted to come to West Palm Beach but cannot because one of the requirements is a connected hotel,” convention center general manager Dave Anderson said.

Tourism industry leaders have long argued that the lack of a hotel adjoining the convention center on Okeechobee Boulevard has been holding it back. But now that the construction is underway, those officials are already trying to attract larger conferences. [PBP] – Christopher Cameron