GARDEN GROVE Embassy Suites hotel got the thumbs-up from City Council members to go ahead with its plan to add a 17-story hotel tower, which would make it the biggest Embassy Suites in the world and one of the tallest buildings in the Harbor Corridor.

The council on Tuesday voted 5-0 in favor of an agreement with developer Landmark Hospitality LLC, which proposed building the addition with 238 rooms and about 50,000 square feet of banquet and meeting space.

Councilman Mark Rosen said these improvements will put Garden Grove and especially Embassy Suites on the resort map.

“This gives us convention capacity,” he said. “Businesses here won’t have to depend on Anaheim for meeting space anymore. It’ll also be great for the restaurants and retail we have planned for the resort area.”

Hotel General Manager Dominic Acolino said he expects the new tower to be completed in 2010.

“We already have a hotel operating at the location,” he said. “It’s going to be a challenge to work around it.”

Embassy Suites is part of the city-designated InternationalWest resort area on Harbor Boulevard where city officials envision shops, restaurants, more hotels and possibly a theme park. The cluster of hotels on Harbor generates about $12.5 million annually for the city.

At the same meeting, Council members put off a vote to enter into an agreement with JPI to develop the Brookhurst Triangle.

They made the decision after some residents questioned the selection process.