NEW ORLEANS — Provenance Hotels, GB Lodging and Woodbine Development Corp. have partnered to co-develop and open the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery, a boutique hotel located in New Orleans’ historic Warehouse Arts District. Originally built in 1854, the historic property is located at the intersection of Tchoupitoulas and Lafayette streets, roughly four blocks from the French Quarter. The hotel features hardwood floors, exposed brick walls, an art collection courtesy of the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts and a new restaurant. Nina Compton is the head chef and owner of the restaurant, known as Compere Lapin. In August 2013, Provenance Hotels and GB Lodging purchased the historic hotel property, then known as the Ambassador Hotel. The companies partnered with Woodbine Development to renovate the hotel and expand the guest room count to 167. According to the hotel’s website, rooms rent for as low as $109 per night.
Hospitality
ROMEOVILLE, ILL. — Holladay Properties has partnered with WoodSpring Suites, formerly Value Place, to develop the first WoodSpring Suites hotel in Romeoville, located west of Chicago. Located at 1093 Windham Parkway, the four-story hotel will feature 116 rooms with in-room kitchens, free high-speed Internet and guest laundry facilities. The hotel is slated to open in April 2016.
IRVING, TEXAS — Woolley’s Classic Suites is set to build in Avion Business Park, a 50-acre tract of land located along State Highway 114 and Royal Lane in Irving. KDC is developing the business park. The 250-room, full-service hotel offers amenities including an on-site restaurant and lounge, in-suite dining, 24-hour gift shop and business center, meeting spaces, laundry, fitness center and complimentary airport shuttle. Avion Business Park is the second location in the United States for the Woolley’s Classic Suites hotel brand. The first Woolley’s opened in Denver in May of 2014. Construction on Woolley’s Classic Suites will begin in fall of 2015 with completion scheduled for winter 2016.
MINNEAPOLIS — HFF has secured $25 million in refinancing for the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel Minneapolis, a 12-story hotel located in downtown Minneapolis. HFF arranged the three-year, floating-rate loan with two optional one-year extensions through BBVA Compass Bank for the borrower, Wheelock Street Capital LLC. Proceeds of the loans will be used to refinance a loan, which was assumed by the borrower upon its acquisition of the property in 2012. Located at 1101 LaSalle Ave., the 150,752-square-foot property was renovated in 2013 and features 229 suites, 1,162 square feet of meeting space, a second-floor merchandising suite, parking garage, 24-hour business and fitness centers, in-house Starbucks Coffee and Lot 57, a full-service restaurant and lounge. Steven Klein and Sam Nidenberg of HFF represented the borrower in the financing.
MCALLEN, TEXAS — DoubleTree Suites by Hilton McAllen is now open. The property is a renovated nine-story, 262-room hotel located one mile from the McAllen International Airport. The former Embassy Suites hotel reopens following a $10 million renovation that includes updates to the lobby, atrium, restaurant, lounge, guest rooms, meeting rooms and indoor pool. DoubleTree Suites by Hilton McAllen is owned by Calmac Suites LTD and managed by Phoenix Hospitality Group. The hotel’s guestrooms include new furnishings, a microwave, mini refrigerator, coffee maker and two TVs. The hotel features more than 6,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, including six meeting rooms and one boardroom.
MIAMI BEACH, FLA. — Hyatt Hotels Corp. has opened Hyatt Centric South Beach Miami, a 105-room hotel in Miami Beach’s South Beach neighborhood. The property is the first Hyatt Centric in the region and only the second one worldwide. The 10-story hotel is located at 1600 Collins Ave. and features a central lobby lounge, local artwork, an indoor/outdoor lobby on the third floor, fitness center and an open-air deck with a swimming pool and cabanas. Hyatt Hotels developed the hotel in conjunction with Miami-based Robert Finvarb Cos. and its partner David Martins. Architect Kobi Karp designed the hotel.
MIAMI — Carey Watermark Investors Inc. and Carey Watermark Investors 2 Inc., two non-traded REITs focused on the lodging/hospitality sector, have purchased a majority interest in The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne, Miami. The hotel features 302 resort guestrooms and 188 condo-hotel units, 174 of which currently participate in the resort rental program. The REITs purchased their share in the property as part of a joint venture agreement with an affiliate of GB Key Biscayne Holdings LLC, the original developer of the hotel. The hotel was recently renovated to include a new open-style marketplace café known as Key Pantry: Eat.Drink.Shop. The renovations also included upgrades to the lobby and RUMBAR, the hotel’s Havana-style bar/lounge.
ORLANDO, FLA. — AWH Partners LLC and Building and Land Technology have purchased the 1,004-room Doubletree by Hilton Orlando at Sea World in an off-market transaction. The Orlando Business Journal reported that an affiliate firm of Atlanta-based UrbanAmerica Advisors LLC sold the hotel to the partnership for $55 million. The new ownership plans to renovate the hotel’s guest rooms, meeting space, public areas and resort grounds, as well as add 30,000 square feet of upgrade facilities and ballroom space for the hotel’s conference center. AWH Development will oversee the renovations and Spire Hospitality will manage operations under a franchise agreement with Hilton Worldwide. Located in Orlando near global attractions such as Sea World, Universal Studios Orlando and Walt Disney World, the resort features an upscale spa, lagoon pool, two children’s pools, kids’ lounge and game area, miniature golf course, putting green, recreation center and seven dining outlets.
SAN DIEGO — Strategic Hotels & Resorts and its joint venture partner have sold the 417-room Hyatt Regency La Jolla for $118 million. The hotel was purchased by affiliates of Walton Street Capital LLC and JMA Ventures LLC. The hotel is located at 3777 La Jolla Village Drive. It is situated near a variety of healthcare, retail and dining services. Hyatt Regency La Jolla is located directly across the street from the UCSD Radiology at La Jolla center, the University Ambulatory Surgery Center and Pacific Lipo. Strategic Hotels formerly owned a 53.5 percent stake in the asset. The joint venture retired $89.2 million of debt secured by the hotel at closing. The company will use the proceeds from the sale to reduce outstanding debt on its revolving credit facility.
LOS ANGELES — The City of Los Angeles is set to receive its first Hotel Indigo. The 350-room Hotel Indigo Downtown Los Angeles will be the flagship hotel at Metropolis, a more than $1 billion mixed-use development. Hotel Indigo is currently under construction and scheduled for completion in winter 2016. It will be located at 899 Francisco Street. The hotel was designed by Gensler. Its décor will feature narratives from Downtown LA’s past, including Fiesta De Las Flores, the glamorous pre-Hollywood nightlife scene and the underground speakeasies of the roaring ‘20s. Metropolis, which is also under construction, will feature three residential towers and a curated retail experience. It is owned by Greenland USA. The Hotel Indigo Downtown Los Angeles is owned by Greenland LA Metropolis Hotel Development LLC. It will be managed by an affiliate of IHG. The hotel is being developed by IHG and Greenland USA, a subsidiary of Shanghai-based Greenland Group. Though this will be the eighth IHG-branded hotel for Greenland Group, this will be the first time the companies have partnered together in the U.S. The Hotel Indigo brand also recently announced it will open its first Denver-area hotel inside Union Tower West, a 212,000-square-foot development, in …