Ground Broken for 135-Room Center Valley Hotel

Dignitaries including U.S. Rep. Charlie Dent (R-15) were on hand for an economically significant groundbreaking ceremony in Center Valley Monday.

The ceremony took place at 3800 West Drive–near the intersection of Rt. 309, I-78 and Center Valley Parkway–and marked the start of construction of a Springhill Suites Marriott hotel that is expected to open in the summer of 2017.

The five story hotel is being developed by High Hotels Ltd. and will contain 135 suites, an indoor swimming pool, a business center, a fitness center, a guest lounge offering beverage service and light fare, a patio with fire pit and other amenities designed to appeal to both leisure and corporate travelers.

Lancaster-based High Hotels also operates a Springhill Suites Marriott in Ewing, N.J., and is constructing another one in Mount Laurel, N.J.

The Center Valley hotel is being built on land that was part of a large parcel bequeathed to Lehigh University by the late Donald Stabler–a major benefactor.

High Hotels recently purchased the section of land needed for the hotel, which is near Olympus headquarters Dun&Bradstreet in the sprawling Stabler Corporate Center and the Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley.

Another hotel is being built on the south side of Center Valley Parkway, about a mile away, on the site of the former Center Valley Club golf course.

All of the land in the immediate area was originally part of a major zinc mining operation that began in the 1850s and continued up until the early 1980s.

According to promotional materials distributed at the groundbreaking ceremony, the Springhill Suites Marriott Allentown/Bethlehem will offer guests complimentary breakfast, in-suite workspaces, complimentary wifi, “airy beds with piles of pillows” and “spa-like bathrooms.”