Sudberry Properties and Tharaldson Development and Hospitality have started construction of a 100-room Hampton Inn & Suites by Hilton at 771 Palm Ave. in the Breakwater Town Center in Imperial Beach.

The hotel is the final phase of Breakwater Town Center, a public-private partnership by the city of Imperial Beach and Sudberry Properties, and an example of how municipalities and private developers are reinventing retail properties that have outlived their usefulness.

Sudberry Properties replaced a dilapidated shopping center in Imperial Beach with the 45K SF hybrid-retail Breakwater Town Center. The project provides services commonly found in a community center, as well as a mix of national and local lifestyle tenants.

Imperial Beach was on board with the project because previously the town didn't have much of a community gathering place. The town center provides that and is a gateway to both Imperial Beach and Coronado, home to a major naval base.

The town center project will also benefit from the U.S. Navy's development of the 1M SF Coronado Coastal Campus, which is under construction about 1.5 miles from Breakwater and slated to be the workplace of about 3,300 Navy personnel.

The Hampton Inn & Suites development team includes Las Vegas-based Design Cell Architecture and Watkins Landmark Construction of Carlsbad. The hotel will be owned by Heritage Inn of Imperial Beach, with Sudberry Properties as a managing partner.