BOCA RATON, FLA. — Carey Watermark Investors Incorporated (CWI) has acquired the 256-room Boca Raton Marriott at Boca Center for an undisclosed sum. The full-service hotel is located at 5150 Town Center Circle. CWI is W. P. Carey’s non-traded REIT.
The Marriott resides within the Boca Center, a mixed-use development that includes 375,000 square feet of Class A office space, 21 stores and 12 restaurants. It sits adjacent to the 1.5-million-square-foot Town Center at Boca, Florida’s second largest mall by square footage. The mall is anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale's, Macy's and Sears.
The Boca Raton Marriott contains a three-meal restaurant, fitness center, pool, spa, business center and more than 13,500 square feet of meeting space.
CWI plans to invest more than $7 million to renovate the guestrooms, corridors and meeting space. The hotel’s public areas recently underwent a renovation as well.
The hotel will remain a member of the Marriott International family. It will continue to be managed by an affiliate of HEI Hotels & Resorts.
The Palm Beach market, which includes Boca Raton, achieved RevPAR growth of 10 percent in 2013. This exceeded the national RevPAR growth of 5.2 percent, according to CWI.
“The acquisition of the Boca Raton Marriott at Boca Center represented the opportunity to invest in a high-quality, full-service property in an established market with strong growth prospects and high barriers to entry,” says Michael Medzigian, CEO of CWI. “We believe that our planned hotel renovations—updating guest rooms to the Marriott 'Room of the future' brand standard and refreshing meeting spaces and guestroom corridors—will reinforce the hotel's status as a market leader.”
New York City-based CWI is a publicly registered real estate investment trust that primarily invests in lodging and lodging-related sectors. The company is advised by affiliates of W. P. Carey Inc. and Watermark Capital Partners. They also manage CWI’s overall portfolio.
— Nellie Day