OCEAN CITY, MD. — Washington, Del.-based Applied Bank has provided a $21 million construction and permanent loan for a new Hyatt Place Hotel located at 16th Street and Boardwalk in Ocean City. The new 105-room, seven-story hotel will replace the existing Seascape Motel, which opened in the 1950s. The property will feature a restaurant, bar, outdoor veranda, meeting rooms, room service, indoor and outdoor swimming pools and a fitness center, as well as six shops fronting Boardwalk. The owner, PRBR Hospitality LLC, has owned the site since 1978.
WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. — Concord Hospitality Enterprises Co. plans to open a new hotel under the Marriott Autograph Collection brand at the former City Hall site in West Palm Beach. The 200-room hotel will anchor the $135 million redevelopment of the three-acre site. Navarro Lowrey Properties is the master developer of the redevelopment, which will include 27,000 square feet of retail space, up to 7,000 square feet of restaurant and outdoor dining space, 255 multifamily residences and a public park. The new hotel will overlook the Intracoastal Waterway and Palm Beach and offer views of the Atlantic Ocean. Concord Hospitality plans to break ground on the hotel in 2017.
ATLANTA — Legacy Ventures has completed Phase I of the $9 million renovation underway at the Embassy Suites Atlanta by Hilton at Centennial Olympic Park, a 321-room hotel in downtown Atlanta. Phase I of the renovations included an upgrade of all suites, including new case goods, window treatments, lighting, artwork, wall coverings and new bathroom tile and mirrors. The corridors also received new carpet, wall covering, paint and lighting, and the lobby and atrium received new furniture. Additionally, the hotel’s restaurant, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, was updated with a reconfigured bar with more seating, and a new Starbucks Coffee was built at the hotel. Phase II, which will focus on upgrading the hotel’s meeting and pre-function rooms, is slated to begin later this year and will include new carpet, paint, lighting and wall coverings, as well as a new bar in the atrium. Legacy Ventures developed and manages the hotel, which opened in June 1999 as the first new-build hotel in downtown Atlanta in 15 years. Situated adjacent to Centennial Olympic Park, the hotel is within walking distance of the Georgia World Congress Center, the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coca Cola Museum, the CNN Center, the College Football Hall …
NEW YORK CITY — McSam Hotel Group has broken ground for a 25-story Hyatt Place located in Manhattan’s Garment District/Times Square. Designed by Gene Kaufman Architect, the 180,000-square-foot hotel will feature 518 guest rooms and approximately 7,000 square feet of dining and lounge space, including an indoor restaurant, backyard eatery, bar/lounge, fitness center, business center and meeting space. VLDG Inc. is designing the interiors of the hotel.
BETHESDA, MD. — Pebblebrook Hotel Trust has closed on the $50.1 million sale of DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Bethesda-Washington DC located at 8120 Wisconsin Ave. in Bethesda. The 270-room hotel features a business center, fitness center, coin-operated laundry service, restaurant, bar and lounge, meeting rooms and complimentary Wi-Fi. The buyer was undisclosed.
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MICH. — Hilton and Kingsley Hospitality LLC have unveiled plans for a $10 million renovation of the Kingsley Inn in Bloomfield Hills. The historic hotel will reopen as a DoubleTree by Hilton in the fall of 2017. The updated hotel will feature a full-service restaurant, indoor pool and 11,396 square feet of meeting space. Neumann/Smith Architecture is designing the hotel’s exterior renovation. Hotel Investment Services Inc. will operate the hotel, which is expected to open in fall 2017. The hotel will remain open during the renovation.
When comparing hotels for valuation purposes, a common method of making adjustments for the difference between properties is to examine revenue per available room (RevPAR), a measurement of hotel performance. If executed poorly, these calculations can distort property value and lead to unfairly heavy tax burdens on hospitality owners. There are two different ways to calculate RevPAR. The first is to multiply the average rental income per room by the number of rooms occupied, then divide by the number of days in the period. The other method is to divide total guestroom revenue by the number of available rooms and divide that figure by the number of days in the period. In an article titled “Using RevPAR as a Basis for Adjusting Comparable Sales,” published in February 2002 by HospitalityNet.org, appraiser Erich Baum voiced a common argument shared by appraisers who advocate for RevPAR adjustments. Baum contends that the adjustments are appropriate because the revenue a hotel generates is tied to its location and the quality of its product. The question in valuation for property taxation is whether or not RevPAR incorporates additional, non-real estate values such as quality of brand, management, goodwill, etc., and whether or not the RevPAR …
RICHARDSON, TEXAS — Corporate Properties Trust I LP, a partnership between Transwestern Investment Group and Mirae Asset Global Investments Co., has closed on the acquisition of a 2.2 million-square-foot mixed-use project in a sale-leaseback with State Farm Auto Insurance Co. According to the Dallas Business Journal, the purchase price was $825 million. The partnership acquired the four primary office/retail towers and the connected structured parking garages. The campus is located within the CityLine development, a 186-acre project developed by KDC. The buildings are designated LEED Gold and are located adjacent to a DART rail line. Corporate Properties Trust I LP will own the properties through a REIT. The entity was created to allow long-term stable ownership of institutional properties. A wholly owned subsidiary of Transwestern Investment Group will manage the property. Located at 1150, 1201 and 1251 State St. and 3661 N. Plano Road, the buildings will house 8,000 State Farm employees. CityLine, which is located at the southeast corner of Highway 75 and the President George Bush Turnpike, will also include 1,700 apartments, a 150-room hotel, an entertainment center, medical office facility, retail, restaurants and a 3.5-acre park.
NEW YORK CITY — Developed by Nissim Seliktar and designed by Gene Kaufman Architect, Aloft Long Island City-Manhattan View is slated to open in November. Located at 27-45 Jackson Ave. in Long Island City, the 18-story, 74,000-square-foot hotel will feature 176 rooms. The hotel also features W XYZ bar; Re:mix lounge; Re:fuel, a healthy snack bar; Re:charge gym; 1,500 square feet of meeting space; a pool; and a 1,700-square-foot ground-floor terrace.
MEMPHIS, TENN. — Elvis Presley Enterprises has opened a new $92 million, 450-room resort at Graceland, a tourist destination and home of Elvis Presley’s Graceland Mansion in Memphis. The project, known as The Guest House at Graceland, is the largest hotel project in Memphis in 90 years and is expected to create 200 jobs. The hotel will feature a 464-seat theater, outdoor pool, conference rooms, outdoor meeting space known as The Lawn at The Guest House and an 11,000-square-foot ballroom. Dining options at the resort include Delta’s Kitchen, E.P.’s Bar & Grill, The Lobby Bar and the Shake, Rattle & Go coffee bar. The resort is the first phase of Graceland’s expansion, which also includes the addition of a 200,000-square-foot entertainment complex known as Elvis: Past, Present & Future, set to open in March 2017. The resort’s development team includes construction manager DreamCatcher Hotels and architect Hnedak Bobo Group. Boston-based Pyramind Hotel Group manages The Guest House at Graceland on behalf of Elvis Presley Enterprises, a corporate entity founded by The Elvis Presley Trust.