Above: the future site of the Hyatt Place in Manatí (Photo: OG)

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Manatí, Puerto Rico will be home to a new Hyatt Place hotel in 2014, following the launch of construction Tuesday.

The project is the product of an agreement between Hyatt Hotels and Island Hospitality Partners, which is a joint venture of PRISA Group and McConnell Valdes Consulting.

The hotel will feature 104 guest rooms in a five-story building, along with an 11,500-square-foot casino and restaurant.

“We are glad to work with Island Hospitality on a second Hyatt Place hotel project in Puerto Rico,” said Pat McCudden, senior vice president for real estate development at Hyatt Hotels & Resorts. “We believe that the Hyatt Place brand and the location of the hotel in Manatí will have strong appeal to business and leisure travelers visiting the region.”

The Hyatt Place brand was first launched in 2006. There are currently 165 Hyatt Place hotels in the United States, along with one each in Costa Rica and India.

“We continue to expand the tourism industry in Puerto Rico,” said Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner Pedro Pierluisi.

According to government figures, the territory’s hotel occupancy rose 10.2 percent in June compared to the same period in 2011.

Island Hospitality owns the Hyatt Place Bayamon Hotel and El Tropical Casino, which has already launched construction and is also set to open in 2014.

Puerto Rico Governor Luis Fortuño said the Manatí project would mean an investment of about $38 million, along with almost 600 new jobs.

“The boom in hotel development shows that the tourism industry in Puerto Rico is growing,” Fortuño said.