PORTLAND, MAINE — AAM 15 Management has acquired the Embassy Suites of Portland, Maine, a 119-room hotel in Portland. The price was undisclosed. Located nearby the Portland Jetport, the hotel includes a full-service restaurant and lobby bar, as well as 2,000 square feet of meeting and event space. The hotel’s lobby was recently renovated. AAM 15 plans to further improve the remaining public space, guest rooms, exterior, pool and fitness. The seller was not disclosed.
GARDEN GROVE, CALIF. — Berkadia has closed $170 million in financing for the Great Wolf Lodge in Garden Grove. Andrew Coleman and Mauricio Rodriguez of Berkadia’s Hotels & Hospitality Group facilitated the deal on behalf of Colorado-based McWhinney. Provided by Wells Fargo, the 10-year, fixed-rate, full-term loan features interest-only payments. The use of the funds was not disclosed. Situated on 12 acres, the nine-story, 105,000-square-foot water park resort features 603 rooms, a 30,000-square-foot conference venue and 18,000 square feet of retail and dining, including seven restaurants, a bowling alley, miniature golf course, kid’s spa and arcade
ROCHESTER, MINN. — Kraus-Anderson Construction has completed The Hilton Downtown Rochester. Avra Hospitality will manage the 264-room luxury hotel, which will welcome its first guests on April 16. The top floor features premier suites with concierge services. Amenities include a rooftop terrace, fitness center, pool, sauna, steam room and spa. Onsite dining options include Benedict’s and Pittsburgh Blue Steakhouse. Rochester-based Titan Development & Investments in partnership with Chicago-based Harbor Bay Real Estate Advisors developed the project. HGA Architects and Engineers designed the hotel. First National Bank of Omaha provided debt financing.
BOSTON — HFF has brokered the sale of a three-property hotel portfolio in Boston. The sales price was undisclosed. The 433-room portfolio includes the DoubleTree by Hilton Boston – Milford, the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Boston – Rockland, and the Hilton Garden Inn Plymouth. All three hotels are located within 40 miles of Boston. Denny Meikleham, Alan Suzuki and Matthew Enright of HFF represented the seller, Linchris Hotel Corp., in the transaction. The buyer was Jamsan Hotel Management.
ATLANTA — Somewhere between a branded hotel like Holiday Inn and a truly independent hotel lies the “soft-branded” hotel. These properties are pseudo-independent in that they don’t adhere to hotel brand standards but their owners can tap into the networks of established chains for resources like reservation software, loyalty programs and distribution channels. Owners franchise the hotel properties for a fee, but the operations and look more resemble an independent hotel, which is an attractive concept given how many travelers are looking for authentic experiences from their hotel stays. “Soft brands are the hot product in the hotel industry,” said Jeff Higley, vice president and editorial director of Hotel News Now/STR Global. Higley’s comments came during the 31st annual Hunter Hotel Investment Conference, which was held March 20-22 at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis in downtown Atlanta. The conference drew 1,850 attendees. Higley moderated a panel on the first day of the event that included executives from hotel brands and hospitality ownership and development firms. Evolution of soft brands According to lodging research and analytics firm STR, soft-branded hotels comprise a little more than 1.3 percent of all U.S. hotel rooms, but that figure is significant in that 11 years the …
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Developer Hines and investor Qatari Diar have delivered Conrad Washington, D.C., a 360-room, 10-story hotel. Situated at 950 New York Ave. NW, the hotel is the hospitality component of CityCenterDC, a 10-acre mixed-use neighborhood in downtown Washington, D.C. The Conrad line is a luxury brand within the Hilton Hotels & Resorts family. The Conrad features 30,000 square feet of ground-level retail and 32,000 square feet of meeting space. Other amenities include James Beard Award recipients and “Top Chef” finalists, Bryan and Michael Voltaggio’s seafood restaurant called Estuary; Summit The Rooftop at Conrad, an event terrace; and Sakura Club, a lounge on the 10th floor. The design team included Herzog & de Meuron, production architect and hotel consultant HKS Inc., exacting interiors architect Rottet Studio and landscape architecture firm Gustafson Guthrie Nichol. Hilton Management Services will manage the hotel.
FRISCO, TEXAS — Developer Sam Moon Group is topping off the Hyatt Regency Stonebriar, an 18-story hotel in Frisco. Located near Dr. Pepper Ballpark, the 303-room hotel is attached to the Stonebriar Centre Mall and features a 54,585-square-foot conference center. Brasfield & Gorrie is the general contractor and HKS Inc. is the architect. Completion is slated for late spring 2020.
HORSEHEADS, N.Y. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $3 million sale of Holiday Inn Elmira/Horseheads, a 99-room hotel located at 2666 Corning Road in Horseheads, about 90 miles south of Syracuse. The two-story property is situated on 2.6 acres and features amenities such as a pool, fitness center, business center and airport shuttle service. Jerry Swon, Tim McCaffrey and Daniel Zagoria of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller and procured the buyer in the transaction.
SAN DIEGO — Driftwood Acquisitions and Development (DAD) has entered the California market with the acquisition of Marriott Mission Valley located at 8757 Rio San Diego Drive in San Diego. An undisclosed seller sold the property for $85.7 million. Built in 1988 on a 7.4-acre site, Marriott Mission Valley features 353 guest rooms, more than 37,000 square feet of meeting and event space, Dine Entertain Network Restaurant, M Club Lounge, a business center, fitness center, outdoor swimming pool and convenience store. DAD plans to develop a 130,000-square-foot, 150-key hotel on a 1.7-acre portion of the site. Slated for completion in 2021, the property will include 5,000 square feet of meeting space and a state-of-the-art fitness center.
DETROIT — L. Mason Capitani CORFAC International has brokered the sale of The Royal Palm/Park Avenue Hotel located at 2305 Park Ave. in Detroit. The sales price was not disclosed, but the asking price was $15 million. The 13-story, 180-room hotel was designed by Detroit architect Louis Kamper in 1925 and has been operational ever since. Downtown Hospitality Detroit LLC, which is owned by Mario Kiezi and Mike Abdulnoor, purchased the property. The buyers plan to fully restore the hotel and add two restaurants on the first floor as well as a rooftop bar. Completion of the project is slated for late 2020. Al Lafrate of L. Mason Capitani represented the buyer and the seller, Catharina Harrington, who had operated the hotel with her late husband Wilbur Harrington since 1967.