Year-End Hotel News Roundup

Happy New Year! The DJIA eased less than 0.1%. Nasdaq lost 0.8%. The S&P 500dipped 0.4%. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield declined 0.035 percentage point to 3.791%. 

EF Hutton initiated coverage on Selina Hospitality with a Buy rating and $6.50 price target.

STR reported US lodging data for the week ended 12/24. RevPAR was down -0.2% year over year while down -7.6% versus the same week in 2019. Christmas and New Year falling a day later, on a Sunday, is going to mess with the results in a holiday shift due to the timing of school breaks.

Bluegreen Vacation Holdings said they had a total of 3,040,882 shares of Class A Common Stock tendered in their cash tender offer to purchase up to 4.5 million common shares at $25 per share. BVH said they repurchased the shares for a total of $76 million, excluding fees and expenses. The shares to be purchased represent approximately 18.9% of the issued and outstanding Class A common shares and 15.4% of the total Class A and Class B common stock.

Two Marriott-branded hotels in Stark County, Ohio sold for more than $1 million in early December. The Residence Inn by Marriott at 5280 Broadmoor Circle NW was purchased for $4,027,737 by Supreme Bright Ohio V LLC. Supreme Bright Ohio also bought the Fairfield Inn & Suites at 5285 Broadmoor Circle NW for $3,447,321. 

Sonesta Hotels is excited to announce the reinvention of The James and the launch of Sonesta Essential. The James represents and fulfills guest demands for crafted detail, classic but modernized feel, and exquisite beverage-forward outlets that encompass offerings which satisfy any craving. Sonesta Essential offers guests the essentials, ones they need while on the road—a comfortable bed, a clean room, amenities that meet their needs, so all they have to do is focus on why they're traveling in the first place. Alongside the announcement of the two new brands, Sonesta is launching a new brand campaign “Famous Yet Nameless” to reframe the brand to consumers as it continues to grow and evolve rapidly.

Everwood Hospitality Partners acquired the 184-room La Quinta I Drive/Convention center hotel in Orlando, Florida from Cavalier Florida, L.P.Cronheim Hotel Capital helped secure the loan that will be used for the acquisition and subsequent multi-million dollar hotel renovation. The refurbishment process will include significant upgrades to public and private spaces throughout the property. The loan represents 65% of the all-in cost and holds a five-year term at a very favorable interest rate.

Sacramento County has received a pre-application, from SHIR Capital, to convert the Wyndham Sacramento into 230 affordable apartments. In addition to the apartment conversion, a portion of the 230-room hotel would be converted to an unspecified number of self-storage units. Khanna Enterprises II LP is listed as the current property owner. 

Cambria Hotels announced the opening of the Cambria Hotel Savannah Downtown Historic District, the first Cambria to open in Georgia. Located in Savannah, the new six-story, 101-room Cambria Hotel offers multi-purposed indoor and outdoor spaces, a lobby bar, onsite dining, multi-function meeting and event spaces and a fitness center. The Cambria Hotel Savannah Downtown Historic District was developed by HOS Management Group.

KB Hotels will proceed with placing a 132-room Cambria Hotel, a 128-room Even Hotel and a 101-room Holiday Inn Express along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in Waco, Texas. The Cambria and its steakhouse should be open by mid-spring while the Even Hotel will open two or three months later. Waco’s Tax Increment Financing Zone board approved an eight-month extension for both, as well as a 12-month extension for the Holiday Inn Express.

Extell is paying $94.4 million to buy the leasehold of the former Wellington Hotel from Richard Born’s BD Hotels. The 27-story historic property is located one block south of Carnegie Hall in New York City. The developer’s plans are unknown, but it was understood that a new hotel will likely be part of any new tower and that Born will remain a partner in the project. 

Developer Robert Green is planning a 12-story luxury hotel located in the Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego, California. The project will cost more than $120 million and calls for 244 guest rooms, a rooftop pool deck, nearly 15,000 square feet of meeting space and a diverse array of dining and drinking venues, including a jazz speakeasy below ground. Ground-breaking is planned for the 1^st half of 2024.

Landmark Developers is proposing the construction of a 44-room hotel, restaurant, pool and artist-in-residence quarters at the current site of the Landing restaurant and the adjacent Fred’s Breakfast Club, in New Hope, Pennsylvania. 

Denton Floyd Real Estate Group is proposing two luxury mixed-use apartment complexes and a hotel, for a total $226 million investment. The town of Clarksville, Indiana announced that Denton Floyd Real Estate Group will develop three properties in the South Clarksville area. Besides the apartment complexes, Denton Floyd’s proposal calls for a 198-room luxury hotel and convention center with a rooftop restaurant, resort-style heated pool with poolside bar, a fitness center and a day spa. Denton Floyd will need to finalize a development plan for the sites and take them to Clarksville Planning Commission for approval.

Congdon Park’s historic Cotton Mansion recently underwent a complete renovation under new ownership, transforming the former bed and breakfast into a boutique hotel and venue. Heirloom Property Management purchased the three-story mansion and 1,700-square-foot carriage house for approximately $1,425,000. Over the past six months, Heirloom’s construction crews have been renovating the Duluth, Minnesota property. An expanded parking lot was added and overgrown bushes and a fallen tree have been removed. The third floor was remodeled from its previous residential use to resemble an original billiards rooms complete with a bar and pool table. The entire mansion is available for rent with 11 rooms and two apartments, a total of 13 beds.

RIU Hotels & Resorts announced the renovation of one of its three hotels in the Los Cabos area of Mexico: Riu Santa Fe. The All-Inclusive hotel’s reopening is being described as the cherry on top of RIU’s twenty-fifth anniversary in Mexico. The five-star Riu Santa Fe has 1,288 rooms, a renovated reception desk, expanded dining options, 13 bars, and an extensive entertainment program.

TheSureStay Plus Hotel by Best Western Kennewick Tri-cities has opened in Kennewick, Washington. The property features 61 well-appointed rooms, an indoor pool, fitness center, guest laundry and a business center. 

Construction is underway to transform a historic antebellum-style mansion in downtown Roswell, Georgia, into a partially exclusive club with restaurants and a boutique hotel. Hugo Posh Investments and Concentrics Restaurants Group are two of four business partners investing nearly $35 million into the redevelopment of former Founders Hall into Ten Seventy-Six club and The Darien hotel. The developers estimate construction will be completed in time for the property to open in spring 2024. The home will be remodeled with two restaurants and three lounges. Two other structures on the property include a spa that will offer wellness services. The Darien, a boutique hotel designed as a villa, will have a total of 10 suites for guests, poolside.

The saga surrounding the Pakistan International Airlines-owned Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan was discussed once again during a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Privatisation, which has recommended that the process to redevelop the hotel be kick-started. The CCoP directed the Privatisation Committee to initiate the appointment of a Financial Adviser to redevelop the historic hotel. The suggested redevelopment would involve the land of the hotel being utilized to redevelop the site into a mixed use of primarily office tower over retail and condominiums. 

Braemar Hotels & Resorts Inc. closed on a mortgage loan for the 210-room Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale at Troon North in Scottsdale, Arizona. The non-recourse loan totals $100.0 million and has a three-year initial term with two one-year extension options. The loan is interest-only and provides for a floating interest rate of SOFR + 3.75%. The Company also announced it plans to use the majority of the proceeds from the new loan to pay off a more expensive loan secured by the Ritz-Carlton Reserve Dorado beach, which has a floating interest rate of LIBOR + 6.00%.

Marcus & Millichap announced the sale of a two-property, 188-room hospitality portfolio in Port Arthur, Texas. The assets are the 93-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites Port Arthur and 96-room TownePlace Suites Beaumont Port Arthur. Marcus & Millichap’s Austin office represented the seller, Daugherty Property Group, and also procured the buyer, an out-of-state entity in a 1031 exchange.

VICI Properties has agreed to provide up to $350 million in mezzanine loan financing to the partnership of Fontainebleau Development and Koch Real Estate Investments to finish the construction of Fontainebleau Las Vegas. The 67-story Las Vegas hotel will have approximately 3,700 hotel rooms, 550,000 square feet of convention and meeting space as well as gaming, dining, retail, lifestyle and health and wellness experiences. It is slated to open in the fourth quarter of 2023.

D.A. Davidson’s Special District Group closed $48 million in CPACE financing for Black Rock Mountain Resort in Wasatch County, Utah. Upon completion, the project is anticipated to include a total of 250 rooms and 30,000 square feet of commercial space. In addition to the residential and hotel accommodations, the resort will feature an NHL-sized hockey arena and event center offering a 12,000 square foot, three-story fitness facility and will be the home ice for the Utah Outliers hockey team. On-site amenities include a year-round heated pool and hot tub, a fitness facility, sauna and steam rooms, a member’s lounge, a family-friendly arcade, and multiple dining options.

Personnel Moves

Remington Hotels promoted Jason Reader to executive vice president of operations. Previously senior vice president of operations, Reader will oversee all company operations and implement systems that support Remington’s overall goals for development and growth. Prior to joining Remington in 2021, Reader served as chief operating officer at Magna Hospitality.

Island Hospitality Management has promoted Kate Bleakley to vice president of operations, WaterWalk division, from her most recent role at the Hyatt Place Cherry Creek. Prior to joining Island, Bleakley held multiple positions with Millennium Hotels & Resorts.