Pro Con makes Hampton Inn & Suites Hotel at Portwalk weather tight

The 120-room Hampton Inn and Suites project at Portwalk is weather tight. The guestroom windows have been installed and the exterior finishes are underway. The hotel is part of the final phase of Portwalk which when completed, will include the hotel and The Residences at Portwalk, a 113-unit luxury apartment building, all above a one-story, below-grade parking garage. XSS LLC and Cathartes Private Investments are developing the hotel and Cathartes Private Investments is developing the apartment complex. Pro Con, Inc. of Manchester (www.proconinc.com) is the architect of record and construction manager for the Portwalk project. "The hotel is weather tight, the guest room windows have been installed and the exterior masonry is on-going,"said the project manager for Pro Con. "Construction is progressing as planned with the hotel to be completed in the spring." Cathartes, XSS, and Pro Con have designed the hotel and mixed-use apartment building to achieve LEED certification. Pro Con is using regional & recycled materials in construction and has incorporated environmentally friendly design elements such as a white roof, over-sized windows, low-flow plumbing fixtures and LED lighting throughout the common areas and parking garage. The Hampton Inn & Suites hotel will offer 96 guest rooms and 24 guest suites with living areas and kitchenettes. The 72,000 s/f hotel will feature a large common room, bar and lounge area, breakfast room, indoor pool & fitness room, meeting room, and business center. The building's first floor will house the hotel's lobby, common areas, and retail space for future tenant fit-up. Floors 2 thru 5 will house the hotel's guest rooms. The 152,000 s/f luxury residential apartment complex will consist of a 5-story mixed-use building. The building will offer a variety of residential floor plans including studio, one, two and three bedroom units with an assortment of design configurations. The 113 apartments, located on floors 2- 5, will each offer a fully equipped kitchen with wood cabinetry and granite counters, Energy Star stainless steel appliances, laundry area, living/dining room or great room, and master bedroom suite with granite vanity counter and marble shower surround, walk-in closet, and over-sized windows. Some floor plans include a raised ceiling and sliding terrace doors, offering scenic views of the City of Portsmouth and the skyline. The ground floor of the building will offer future retail tenant space and a private entrance, club room, lobby and elevator for the residences. A fitness center will be located on the second floor. According to the Pro Con project manager, "The residential building's main frame is complete and the building is expected to be weather tight by the end of January. The building's interior partitions and rough MEP's are on-going." The exterior design of both the hotel and the apartment building will feature granite, pre-cast concrete, brick veneer, fiber cement panels and fiberglass cornice molding. The hotel entrance on Portwalk Place will feature a curved canopy with metal panels and double sliding glass doors. Portwalk is a phased development that features luxury residences, a Residence Inn by Marriott hotel and the Harbor Events and Conference Center, retail and restaurant space. When completed, Portwalk will include four buildings located between Deer, Hanover and Maplewood streets in downtown Portsmouth. Phase I; the Residence Inn by Marriott and the Harbor Events and Conference Center, was completed in June 2010. Phase II; The Residences at Portwalk, was completed in the fall of 2011. Phase III; The Hampton Inn hotel is expected to be completed in spring 2014 and the mixed use retail space and residential apartments are scheduled to be completed in late summer 2014. The four buildings are connected by a thoroughfare called Portwalk Place, which is aligned with the Vaughan Mall walkway and creates a large pedestrian loop that connects Congress St. with Deer St. The master planner of Portwalk was Elkus Manfredi Architects of Boston and the consulting architect was DeStefano Architects of Portsmouth.