Accor Announces Plans for a Third New Sofitel Hotel in 2000 - Philadelphia Site Will Be Tenth Sofitel in U.S. -.SCARSDALE, NY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 25, 1998--Accor, the world's largest hotel and tourism company, announced plans today to bring a new, four-star Sofitel hotel to Philadelphia, the third new project the company has announced in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. in the last 15 months. Accor will convert Philadelphia's former Stock Exchange building, located at 17th and Sansom Streets, into a 300-room Sofitel hotel, scheduled to open in 2000. John F. Lehodey, president of Accor Business & Leisure Hotels, North America North America, third largest continent (1990 est. pop. 365,000,000), c.9,400,000 sq mi (24,346,000 sq km), the northern of the two continents of the Western Hemisphere. , confirmed today that the company has closed a transaction to purchase the site for $5.5 million from Philadelphia Operation Building, LP, controlled by The Benenson Capital Company of New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. . Accor North America has been seeking a location in Philadelphia for the last two years. "Under the leadership of Mayor Ed Rendell Edward Gene "Ed" Rendell (born January 5 1944) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party. He was elected Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 2002, and his term of office began January 21, 2003. , Philadelphia is continuing to expand its position as a key business and tourist destination, so the time is right for us to bring a Sofitel here," says Lehodey. "We looked at a variety of sites for our newest hotel, with location being of primary importance. The advantage of this site is that is in the center of the business and financial districts as well as the shopping and leisure areas." Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin before the end of this year. Preliminary plans call for a 13-story hotel with a traditional French brasserie bras·se·rie n. A restaurant serving alcoholic beverages, especially beer, as well as food. [French, from brasser, to malt, brew, from Old French bracier, from Vulgar Latin , meeting space and a bakery in addition to the 300 guest rooms. Accor North America currently manages seven Sofitel hotels in the United States, in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay, 50 mi (80 km) long and from 3 to 13 mi (4.8–21 km) wide, W Calif.; entered through the Golden Gate, a strait between two peninsulas. and Washington, D.C. Construction is scheduled to begin on the eighth hotel, in New York City, this summer, and on the ninth hotel, in downtown Chicago, later this year. Both of these projects are scheduled for openings in 2000. In addition to these properties, Accor also manages nine Novotel hotels in the U.S. and Canada. The signing of the Philadelphia agreement underscores Accor's strong commitment toward developing the Sofitel brand in North America. Further expansion plans for Sofitel in the U.S. include acquisition and development in primary markets such as Boston, Dallas, New Orleans and San Francisco. Worldwide, Sofitel's development plans include openings in Ho Chi Minh City Ho Chi Minh City, formerly Saigon, city (1997 pop. 5,250,000), on the right bank of the Saigon River, a tributary of the Dong Nai, Vietnam. in 1998; Paris in 1999; and London in 2000. Paris-based Accor currently operates the world's largest hotel network, with 2,600 units serving all segments of the business and leisure hospitality markets, from budget to luxury. The Accor group encompasses five other major brands in addition to Sofitel and Novotel. These include Mercure, Ibis ibis (ī`bĭs), common name for wading birds with long, slender, decurved bills, found in the warmer regions of both hemispheres. The body is usually about 2 ft (61 cm) long. Most ibises nest in colonies. , Formule 1, Etap Hotel and Motel 6. Accor is a global services group, leader in four major core activities: hotels, travel agencies, car rental and service vouchers. With 121,000 employees, Accor is present in 142 countries. Accor North America is headquartered in Scarsdale, New York “Scarsdale” redirects here. For other uses, see Scarsdale (disambiguation). Scarsdale is both a town and village in Westchester County, New York, United States postal code 10583. It is a northern suburb of New York City. .
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