BRANSON, MO. — Midas Hospitality and Bryan Properties have opened a 123-room Element Hotel by Westin in Branson. The asset is owned by Bryan Properties and managed by Midas Hospitality. Located at 511 Pat Nash Drive, the hotel is situated near Ballparks of America and the adjacent Branson Theater District. The 73,637-square-foot property offers a fitness center, outdoor saline pool, fire pits and complimentary breakfast.
WILLIAMSBURG, VA. — A joint venture between Kemmons Wilson Hospitality Partners LP and Ascendant Capital Partners LP, doing business jointly as KW Kingfisher LLC, has entered into a definitive merger agreement with Sotherly Hotels Inc. (NASDAQ: SOHO), a hospitality REIT based in Williamsburg. Sotherly owns 10 upscale hotels in the Sun Belt and Mid-Atlantic totaling 2,786 hotel rooms, as well as interests in two condominium hotels and their associated rental programs. Sotherly’s portfolio includes:– The Georgian Terrace in Atlanta– The Whitehall in Houston– The DeSoto in Savannah, Ga.– Lyfe Resort & Residences in Hollywood, Fla.– Hyde Beach House in Hollywood, Fla.– DoubleTree by Hilton Hollywood Beach Resort in Hollywood, Fla.– Hotel Ballast in Wilmington, N.C.– Hotel Alba in Tampa, Fla.– Hyatt Centric Arlington in Arlington, Va.– DoubleTree Jacksonville Riverfront in Jacksonville, Fla.– DoubleTree by Hilton Laurel in Laurel, Md.– DoubleTree by Hilton Philadelphia Airport “This transaction is a testament to the high-quality portfolio that Sotherly has built over the past 20-plus years as a publicly traded company, and we are confident this will pave a path toward future success for our hotels and the associates and guests who enjoy them every day,” says David Folsom, CEO of Sotherly. Under terms …
GALVESTON, TEXAS — Fertitta Hospitality, which is part of the entertainment empire of Houston Rockets owner Tillman Fertitta, has completed the multimillion-dollar renovation of the 180-room Holiday Inn Resort Galveston – On the Beach hotel in southeast Texas. The renovation delivered upgraded guestrooms, redesigned common spaces and new food-and-beverage offerings, as well as new promotional packages for guests. Specifically, guestrooms received new lighting, artwork and bathroom fixtures, while the lobby, ballroom, game room and lounge were all refreshed.
CHICAGO — Walker & Dunlop Inc. has arranged a $92 million loan for the refinancing of the Hiltons at McCormick Place, a tri-branded hotel connected to the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago. The 23-story, 466-room property is the first and only tri-branded Hilton select-service hotel in the United States, combining Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn and Home2 Suites offerings. The concept unites two of Hilton’s upscale select-service brands with an extended-stay concept. Guests have access to two hotel-operated food and beverage outlets, three ground-floor food and beverage offerings, an indoor pool, fitness center and attached skybridge. Aaron Appel, Jonathan Schwartz, Adam Schwartz, Keith Kurland, Dustin Stolly, Jordan Casella and Cole Grims of Walker & Dunlop arranged the loan on behalf of McHugh Enterprises Inc. and First Investors LLC. Access Point Financial Inc. provided the floating-rate loan, which features interest-only payments.
By Oliver Gray, Esq., of Gray Winston & Hart Valuing hotels for property taxation is one of the most complex and contested areas in real estate appraisal. And unfortunately for hotel owners, improper assessment is common and costly. Unlike office buildings or warehouses, hotels are not just physical assets — they are operating businesses. This distinction requires appraisers to carefully separate the taxable real estate, which is land and improvements, from the nontaxable business enterprise and intangible assets. Failing to do so risks unlawfully taxing the business itself, a critical concern for Texas hotel owners and property tax professionals. Texas law mandates that assessors appraise property at its fee-simple market value, excluding exempt intangibles and business value. For hotels, this means appraisers cannot simply capitalize the income of the operating business. Rather, they must make adjustments to remove components tied to franchise affiliation, management expertise, brand recognition and other intangibles. The challenge is clear: How can assessors, taxpayers and their appraisers correctly isolate the real property value from the going concern? What follows are several common approaches and their inherent weaknesses, which can skew an assessor’s conclusions or provide bases to challenge inflated assessments. Management Fee Method One widely used — …
PLANO, TEXAS — Kintetsu Group Holdings Co. has begun construction on a 217-room hotel in Plano, located northeast of Dallas, that will be operated under the Japanese conglomerate’s Miyako Hotels & Resorts brand. Designed by Gensler with interiors by Looney & Associates, the Miyako Hybrid Hotel Plano will be a 12-story building that will house a traditional Japanese restaurant, lobby bar, Japanese bakery, banquet and meeting space and a rooftop bar and outdoor pool. The Beck Group is the general contractor for the project, which is expected to be complete in fall 2027.
COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS — General contractor Manhattan Construction Co. has broken ground on a 211,000-square-foot academic project on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station. The Aplin Center, named after Arch “Beaver” Aplin III, the founder of truck stop and convenience store chain Buc-ees, will house immersive learning labs for students enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Mays Business School. DLR Group and Pickard-Chilton co-designed The Aplin Center, which is expected to open in 2028.
BIRMINGHAM, ALA. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $11 million sale of Spark by Hilton Birmingham Colonnade, a 122-room hotel located at 4300 Colonnade Parkway in Birmingham. The hotel’s amenities include a bagel bar, lounge, indoor swimming pool, onsite market, 24-hour fitness center, pet-friendly rooms and complimentary breakfast. Originally opened in first-quarter 2025, the four-story hotel sits on roughly 2.3 acres. Jack Davis, Joce Messinger, Joseph Simpson and Eric Webster of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller in the transaction. Eddie Greenhalgh was Marcus & Millichap’s broker of record in Alabama. The buyer and seller requested anonymity.
SAN JOSE, CALIF. — Sonnenblick-Eichner Co. has arranged $50 million in first mortgage leasehold financing for Valencia Hotel Collection to refinance its Hotel Valencia Santana Row in San Jose. The nonrecourse, fixed-rate loan features interest-only payments for the five-year term and is priced at less than 7 percent. An international money center commercial bank provided the loan. Hotel Valencia Santana Row features 216 guest rooms, 11,188 square feet of indoor/outdoor meeting and event space, a fitness center, rooftop pool and hot tub and an open-air interior courtyard.
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of Tru by Hilton Charleston Ashley Phosphate, a 121-room hotel located at 2475 Prospect Drive in North Charleston. Jack Davis, Chase Dewese, Joce Messinger and Brenden DeLuke of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller in the transaction. The buyer purchased the hotel in a 1031 exchange for an undisclosed price. Both parties requested anonymity. Built in 2020 on a 2.8-acre site, the Tru by Hilton hotel features EV charging stations, an outdoor pool, fitness center and a business center.
