via J. Walcher Communications

A rendering of the new Marriott hotels.

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Developers broke ground this week on two new Marriott hotels in Downtown L.A. This $172-million project will create a Residence Inn and a Courtyard version of the chain hotel, and add nearly 400 new hotel rooms to the area surrounding L.A. Live.

In addition to the hundreds of rooms, the new Marriotts will include 11,754 square feet of meeting room space and 5,100 square feet of restaurant space.

Work will begin this week on the projects' foundations and both new structures are expected to be completed by the summer of 2014, according to a press release.

The new Marriotts are expected to create more than 800 construction jobs and about 200 permanent jobs in Downtown after its completion.

Councilwoman Jan Perry told Blogdowntown earlier this year, that the additional hotel rooms the Courtyard and Residence Inn will provide will help bring L.A. closer to being on par with other cities.

“The average city has 7,300 hotel rooms available within a half mile of its convention center,” Perry said at an event in March. “Los Angeles has less than 1,700.”

According to Marriott, the Residence Inn is intended for families and guests who plan on longer stays, with many of their suites including office space and kitchens. The Courtyard is a slightly modernized version of their traditional accommodations, marketed towards the frequent traveler and with more pricing options.

Developers bought the AEG-owned space on the corner of Olympic Boulevard and Francisco Street, just a stones throw away from the J.W. Marriott and Ritz-Carlton that opened in 2010.