Fairfax County wins battle to land Hilton headquarters

Hilton Hotels Corp. is moving its headquarters from Beverly Hills, Calif., to Northern Virginia.

The company is expected to spend at least $17 million on the move to Fairfax County and create more than 300 permanent, full-time jobs in the next three years, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said in announcing the project yesterday.

The state is helping Fairfax with a $1 million grant from the Governor's Opportunity Fund and $2.5 million in economic development incentive grants.

Kaine said Virginia competed against Maryland and Washington, D.C., to win the project. Hilton announced last month that it intended to move to the Washington area.

"Hilton is a globally recognized brand that will be a great corporate addition to Fairfax County," Kaine said. "Adding this hospitality industry leader to the commonwealth's list of corporate headquarters is a major coup for Virginia."

Hilton Hotels owns more than 3,200 hotels and 545,000 rooms in 77 countries and territories, and employs 135,000 people worldwide.

"Virginia offers a more central location from which to operate a global organization and will ease coordination across our business, help us to better execute on strategic opportunities and allow us to significantly reduce our costs," said Christopher J. Nassetta, president and chief executive officer. -- Michael Martz