Downtown hotels planned for West Palm Beach

Chicago investor NCP Investments plans to convert a pair of historic office buildings into hotels, adding 312 rooms to downtown West Palm Beach. Plans call for the Southern Bell building at 326 Fern Street to become a 150-room hotel operated as an Aloft by Starwood. It expects to open that hotel in late 2009. NCP also plans to turn the Comeau Building at 319 Clematis Street into a 162-room Renaissance Hotel, a Marriott brand.