Proposed downtown Delaware hotel advances; developer says project is ‘not a tease’

DELAWARE — The developers behind a proposed downtown Delaware hotel know the city’s history with hotel projects. They say this one is “not a tease.”

Westwood Collective is proposing Hotel Wesleyan — the working name for the project — a 6- to 6.5-story development on Spring Street that would include 120 hotel rooms and a 280-space parking garage.

Economic Development Director Nic Langford outlined the project and the steps needed to move it forward during Monday’s Delaware City Council meeting.

First, the city must convey the property to the Delaware County Community Improvement Corporation (CIC). Under a set of conditions intended to ensure the project moves forward, the CIC would then transfer the property to Westwood.

“We’re [the city] restricted from doing a land disposition without taking it to public bid,” Langford said. “So on like GovDeals, we would actually have to take this out and submit it for the public to bid on.

“And inevitably what would probably happen is someone would buy it who would intend to use it [the land] as surface parking to sell parking spaces by the hour,” he said. “[This would not be] a catalytic project and probably is not what the site was intended to be used for.”

With that in mind, council unanimously approved the ordinance after suspending the rules requiring three readings, clearing the way for the property to be conveyed to the CIC.

A hotel in the city has been nearly a decade in the making. Langford said the city purchased the sites for the project around 2015-2016.

“In 2019-2020 we had a proposed Tru by Hilton concept that did not get traction,” he added.

Fast forward to September 2025, the city put out a request for qualifications and soon after asked four different developers to supply their proposals. Langford said the city unanimously decided to give the hotel project to Westwood Collective.

“We’re aware that the city has been starved for a hotel for a while, and not only the city but the county, [too],” Westwood Collective’s Cole Antle said.

“It’s been teased quite a bit,” he said. “We are spending real time and money to make this happen. We don’t want it to feel like a tease.”

Westwood grabs another property for parking

Antle also noted that the developers purchased the duplex at 81 Spring St., a property adjacent to the proposed development site.

The property is circled in red on the map below:

The developers plan to utilize this lot as additional parking. However, it will not extend the planned 280-space parking deck, Antle told Delaware Source after the meeting.

“We just felt like it was an important piece; parking in all of these downtowns is an issue,” he said.

“It wouldn’t extend [the proposed] parking garage, it would just be another surface lot. Maybe employees park there, or something of that nature.”

Between acquiring additional property for parking and the time already invested in planning the project, Antle said Westwood is eager to see it move forward.

“We’re really excited about this, we’ve truly invested a ton of time and a ton of money to make this happen to what Delaware deserves,” he said.

“This is a great step with it being accepted today. As soon as we can start sharing more details, I know the community is excited.”