New hotel with Kennedy Space Center views to rise in Titusville

James Dean
Florida Today

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.

Artist rendering of the 152-room Courtyard by Marriott hotel that Delaware North Parks and Resorts plans to build near the former U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame building in south Titusville.

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The Courtyard by Marriott will rise next to another five-story hotel in the same Riverfront Center development area off Vectorspace Boulevard, close to Boeing offices.

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.

"it speaks to not only the economy related to rocketry and technology and everything that’s happening up at the space center, but then the interest on the part of consumers and the tourists who want to come here and see launches and visit the Visitor Complex," said Peter Cranis, executive director of the Space Coast Office of Tourism. "It’s an amazing thing that’s happening right now."

The Titusville City Council voted unanimously last week to give Delaware North the go-ahead to proceed, following a recommendation from its Planning and Zoning Commission. The company says it plans to move forward quickly, hoping to open in the fall of next year.

“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.

The project’s total cost was not disclosed. Delaware North said it has not sought any local or state incentives but might in the future. The Hyatt project received a grant of more than $200,000 from the North Brevard Economic Development Zone.

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.

Hyatt Place plans to open a five-story hotel, like this one in Jacksonville, in Titusville across the river from Kennedy Space Center in the fall of 2019.

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.

Contact Dean at 321-917-4534 or jdean@floridatoday.com. And follow on Twitter at @flatoday_jdean and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/FlameTrench.

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