View Comments A Florida-based developer has started converting a downtown Wilmington office building into a Staybridge Suites hotel, the developer announced last week. Driftwood Capital purchased the 11-story office building at 1220 N. Market St. for $2.9 million in March 2019. Driftwood will spend $31 million to renovate it into a hotel with 134 suite-style rooms and a "contemporary look and feel," according to a press release. They expect the hotel to open in the second quarter of 2022. In a statement, Nelson Parker of Driftwood Capital said the project is appealing because the conversion will take a relatively short amount of time and it will fill a hole in the hotel market in downtown Wilmington as new businesses and jobs take root. The building also lies in an opportunity zone, which provide developers with lucrative tax breaks for building in disinvested communities.