The project will also include the addition of retail space and the creation of a two-tier pedestrian bridge that will the link the existing hotel, which has 376 rooms, with the expansion. The pedestrian plaza between Adams and Jay streets will be improved with new street furniture, lighting and landscaping.

Located within Renaissance Plaza, and adjacent to the Metro Tech Center, Brooklyn's courthouses, municipal buildings, surrounding universities, the Downtown-area hotel is also within five minutes outside of Manhattan. The first and only full-service hotel in Brooklyn also has more than 27,000 sf of flexible meeting and banquet space. The 18,105-sf grand ballroom, which was just renovated at the end of last year, is divisible into nine sections. It can accommodate receptions for 2,900 guests and seated banquets for over 1,700 guests. There are also 20 additional meeting rooms and suites.

"The banquet and meeting space provided at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge have proven almost as important as the outstanding guest rooms," notes Steve Sharple, senior vice president, Marriott Northeast Region. "They provide a superb venue for corporate meetings and social events, as well as trade association meetings and conferences, and educational and cultural institutions."

The planned 24-story expansion will also produce 600 construction jobs and more than 100 permanent jobs. "Our city's tourism industry is booming. A new all-time high of 39.6 million people visited New York last year, generating $23 billion in business activity, supporting more than a quarter-million jobs in our city. Marriott's renewed commitment to the area is just another sign that our five-borough economic development strategy is working by extending our city of opportunity to people and businesses in every borough," Mayor Michael Bloomberg says.

"The expansion of the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge demonstrates the strength and growth of our city's tourism industry," adds Cristyne L. Nicholas, president and CEO of NYC & Co., the city's official tourism marketing organization. "Today's investments in tourism infrastructure in Brooklyn, from the Marriott to the cruise line terminals at Red Hook, will create jobs and opportunity for future generations."

Heading up the effort is Muss Development Co. which has completed more than 10 million sf of commercial, residential, industrial and retail projects and is in the process of completing five million sf more.