DETROIT — Friedman Real Estate has brokered the sale of the Westin Book Cadillac hotel in downtown Detroit. A joint venture between Oxford Capital Group LLC and Taconic Capital Advisors LP assumed debt owed by the previous owner, which faced foreclosure. The joint venture assumed $77 million in commercial mortgage-backed securities debt owed by Cleveland-based Ferchill Group, according to Crain’s Detroit Business. Located at 1114 Washington Blvd. within the city’s Washington Boulevard Historic District, the hotel rises 32 stories with 453 rooms. The property served as Detroit’s tallest building and the world’s tallest hotel when it opened as the Book-Cadillac hotel in 1924. The hotel was redeveloped and branded as Westin in 2008. The new ownership plans to make improvements to the common areas, amenities and guest rooms over the next two years. Jared Friedman of the brokerage negotiated the sale.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Development and investment firm Turnbridge Equities has broken ground on a 344-room hotel at 617 Colorado St. in downtown Austin that will be operated under the citizenM brand. Amenities will include a pool, fitness center and a rooftop bar. Baskervill is the architect of record for the project, and Dutch firm Concrete is handling interior design. Gilbane is the general contractor for the project, and Bank OZK provided construction financing. The opening is slated for late 2023.
ATLANTA — Atlanta-based Songy Highroads (SHR) has opened the Hyatt Centric Hotel in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta. Construction on the 15-story hotel started in early 2020 and finished this month. SHR developed the hotel in a joint venture with Chicago-based Hyatt Hotels Corp. Designed by New York-based Sawyer & Co., the Hyatt Centric Buckhead Atlanta hotel features 218 guestrooms (including seven suites), two dining concepts and more than 3,700 square feet of meeting and event spaces. The guestrooms average 400 square feet in size, while the suites exceed 850 square feet. Each guestroom offers a variety of amenities including a 65-inch flat-screen TV, bathrobe, bath amenities and a salon-quality hair dryer. Other hotel amenities include a fitness center and an outdoor heated plunge pool with pool sundeck located on the second floor. The two dining concepts include Mount Royal, a Montreal-style steakhouse located on the ground floor, and Spaceman, an indoor-outdoor lounge with cocktails and shareable dishes located on the 15th floor rooftop. The hotel is located next to Bloomingdale’s at Lenox Square, Simon’s enclosed shopping mall fronting Lenox and Peachtree roads. The property is also close to PATH400, a multi-use trail for bicyclists and pedestrians, Shops Around Lenox …
LAS VEGAS — Hard Rock International has agreed to acquire the operations of The Mirage Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas for more than $1 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2022. Hard Rock also revealed that it plans to build a guitar-shaped hotel, which will be located on the Las Vegas Strip. When complete, Hard Rock Las Vegas will be a fully integrated resort welcoming meetings, groups, tourists and casino guests across its nearly 80-acre location, according to Jim Allen, chairman of Hard Rock. The seller, MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM), acquired The Mirage in 2000. The property originally opened in 1989 and is known for its 90-foot volcano. MGM is selling to focus on other opportunities, such as sports betting and expansion in Asia. “This announcement marks the culmination of a series of transformational transactions for MGM during the last several years,” says Paul Salem, chairman of the board of directors for MGM. “The monetization of our entire real estate property portfolio, together with the addition of CityCenter and our agreement to acquire The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, will position the company with a fortress balance sheet, premier portfolio and significant financial …
MIAMI — Royal Palm Cos. (RPC) has received a $340 million construction loan from New York City-based Silverstein Capital Partners for the development of Legacy Hotel & Residences, a mixed-use hospitality property in downtown Miami. The hotel development is part of Miami Worldcenter, a $4 billion, 27-acre mixed-use development underway by Miami Worldcenter Associates. Legacy will offer 310 for-sale residential units on top of a 219-room hotel. The project’s residential units all sold out in May 2021 in less than 12 months. Construction on the property broke ground in August and is slated for completion by 2024. Community amenities at the mixed-use tower include ground-floor retail space, five restaurant and bar concepts, a hotel pool deck, enclosed seven-story rooftop atrium with a restaurant bar and lounge and a members-only international business lounge. Other than the residential and hotel space, Legacy will also include a 10-floor, $100 million medical center known as Blue Zones Medical and Wellbeing Center. RPC’s design team for the Legacy Hotel project includes Miami-based Kobi Karp Architects, Design Agency and ID & Design International. Martin Schwartz and Anthony de Yurre of Bilzin Sumberg provided legal counsel to the development team in the loan transaction.
“I see friends shaking hands, saying how do you do…” Like many urban city centers, New Orleans has faced unprecedented challenges from COVID-19 over the past 19 months. The metro area lost more than 85,000 jobs between second-quarter 2019 and second-quarter 2020. In an economy heavily reliant on tourism, Orleans Parish was the most impacted with over 41,000 jobs lost, predominantly in the hospitality sector. Retailers — and their employees — depend on the large boosts of economic activity provided by large-format gatherings such as conventions and festivals like Jazz Fest, French Quarter Fest, and Mardi Gras, all of which were cancelled for the past 24 months. Additionally, the very active hurricane seasons of 2020 and 2021 resulted in devastation from three major storms in economic centers along our coastal community. New Orleans is still navigating clean-up efforts following Hurricane Ida, which landed Aug. 29, while real estate developers, builders and tenants face even more pricing and timing challenges due to material and worker shortages that were further hindered by storm activity. However, we are marching in the right direction. Cruises are resuming from Port of New Orleans (Port NOLA). Business travelers are getting back on the road. Offices are …
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Metro Dallas-based developer LodgeCap has opened the 135-room AC Hotel Austin Hill Country, a Marriott-branded hotel located at 7415 Southwest Parkway on the west side of Austin. The hotel offers a pool, lobby bar, sky lounge bar and meeting/event space. Merriman Anderson Architects provided interior design services for the five-story building, while a local affiliate of the Dallas-based firm, Merriman Pitt Anderson, provided exterior design and construction administration services.
PEACHTREE CORNERS, GA. — Charleston-based Blaze Capital Partners and joint venture partner Philadelphia-based Argosy Real Estate Partners have acquired The Spoke at Peachtree Corners, an extended-stay hotel in Peachtree Corners, about 21.9 miles north of downtown Atlanta. The two firms plan to convert the hotel property into a tech-oriented multifamily community, as well as plan to invest in interior and exterior capital improvements. The sales price and seller were not disclosed. Originally built as a hotel in 1989, The Spoke at Peachtree Corners has recently undergone property upgrades, including a remodeled clubhouse, gym, sports court and pool area. The unit interiors have also been modernized and currently feature hard surface countertops, stainless steel appliances and updated lighting fixtures. Located at 450 Technology Parkway NW, the property is situated northeast of Atlanta adjacent to the Atlanta TechPark, an office park housing more than 100 tenants. Blaze Capital and Argosy will complete interior upgrades at the property, including smart-home and technology-based work-from-home amenity space. The two firms will also complete exterior upgrades, including remodeling the clubhouse and leasing office, establishing upgraded and rebranded signage, converting the existing basketball court to outdoor amenity space, expanding the existing common laundry facility and painting the …
MIAMI — CBRE has arranged a $120.1 million loan for the $174 million purchase of the East Miami hotel, a 352-room hotel property in downtown Miami’s Brickell district. Located at 788 Brickell Plaza, East Miami Hotel is situated within Brickell City Centre, a $1.1 billion, 5.4 million-square-foot mixed-use development that was completed in 2016. Mark Owens, John Avanzino and Estelle Wang of CBRE facilitated the debt financing through global alternative investment firm Värde Partners on behalf of the buyer, a joint venture between funds managed by Honolulu-based Trinity Fund Advisors LLC and New York-based private equity firm Certares Real Estate Management LLC. Christian Charre and Paul Weimer of CBRE Hotels represented the developer and seller, Hong Kong-based Swire Properties, in the sales transaction. Each room at the hotel features a walk-in rain shower and Wi-Fi. The hotel offers coworking space, a pool and a pool deck. The hotel also has dining options such as Quinto La Huella, a Uruguayan eatery, and Sugar and Tea Room, a rooftop bar and hidden door speakeasy located on the 40th floor. The property is LEED-certified and has a recycling program. The hotel is located a half mile from downtown Miami, 10.5 miles from Miami …
BOCA RATON, FLA. — Newbond Holdings has purchased the Waterstone Resort & Marina Boca Raton, Curio Collection by Hilton, a 139-room hotel in Boca Raton. JLL represented the seller, The Lane Organization, and also worked on behalf of the buyer to originate the floating-rate acquisition financing. The sales price was not disclosed. Built in 1976, Waterstone Resort & Marina Boca Raton has over 8,000 square feet of meeting space and a marina. The room offerings include 72 kings, 56 double queens and 11 suites. The hotel also has two restaurants including the Boca Landing Prime Seafood and Waterstone Rum Bar & Grill. Hotel amenities at the property include a fitness center, outdoor pool, business center, concierge, meeting rooms and complimentary Wi-Fi. Located at 999 East Camino Real, the property is situated 25.5 miles from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, 2.2 miles from downtown Boca Raton and 2.9 miles from Deerfield Beach.