The players involved--a mix of government bureaucrats, city officials and development partners Quadrangle Development Corp. and Capstone Development--have stayed tight-lipped as the process wound its way through the city government. The $537-million hotel has been pending for several years; its latest hitch was a shift in sentiment from city officials that were baulking at underwriting the entire hotel along with the frozen capital and financing markets. However with the partial boost from the city coffer's plans almost a certainty, plans are now underway for ground to break in the fall, a source at one of the development companies tells GlobeSt.com. Part of the city's package is $136 million in TIF financing, as well as loans and grants.

The hotel, a 1,100 or so key Marriott Marquis is expected to provide a big boost to the city's convention business. Currently DC does not have a convention center hotel--although there are certainly several nearby. One industry watcher has speculated to GlobeSt.com that one of the factors that may have pushed the City Council's funding package across the finish line is the growing business that National Harbor's Gaylord Convention Center Hotel has been drawing since the year it opened.