KARNES CITY, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of the 69-room La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Karnes City-Kenedy, about 75 miles southeast of San Antonio. The property, which had a list price of $5.4 million, offers a pool, business center and complimentary breakfast. Andrew Frosch, Allan Miller and Chris Gomes of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, a private investor, in the transaction. The trio, along with Joseph Manuel of Marcus & Millichap, also procured the Texas-based buyer. Both parties requested anonymity.
NEW YORK CITY — The Four Seasons Hotel New York in Manhattan has made all of its 368 rooms available free of charge to medical workers including doctors, nurses and other personnel treating patients in the epicenter of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, according to a statement by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The hotel industry has suffered a severe decline in demand due to “stay at home” orders and travel restrictions nationwide, according to recent data from CBRE. The Los Angeles-based real estate giant estimates that revenue per available room RevPAR, a key financial metric for the industry, will decline 37 percent in 2020, with a contraction of more than 60 percent in the second quarter. Prior to the spread of COVID-19 into the United States, CBRE had forecasted a 0.1 percent decline in RevPAR on a national basis in 2020. Several hotels in New York City and other major markets are temporary utilizing their vacant rooms to lodge medical personnel and some non-critical patients.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) has launched “Hotels for Hope,” a new initiative that aims to connect participating hotels with the health community struggling to find housing and support as the COVID-19 public health crisis grows. Washington, D.C.-based AHLA has identified more than 6,500 properties nationwide that are can work with the U.S. Department of Health, Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Army CORPS of Engineers to provide access to hotel properties to support the health community and our nation’s first responders and local emergency management and public health agencies. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the hotel industry is seeing vacancy rates soar across the United States, with some markets, including Boston, Seattle and Austin, reporting more than 80 percent vacancy. Markets including Chicago are reporting single-digit occupancy rates. More than 4 million hotel jobs could be lost in the coming weeks, according to AHLA. In mid-March, the U.S. Travel Association and AHLA requested $150 billion from the federal government for economic relief as the travel sector is especially affected by the coronavirus. AHLA is working to establish a national database with the HHS so that local, state and federal officials will be able to …
LOS ANGELES — As the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to develop, CBRE Hotels Research has released a revised Viewpoint Hotel 2020 Outlook. The firm now expects gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the United States to slow to 0.4 percent in 2020, down from its previous estimate of 1.9 percent. CBRE expects a sharp drop in economic activity in the second quarter, stabilization as early as third-quarter 2020 and a recovery underway by the fourth quarter. “Governments throughout the world are implementing monetary and fiscal stimulus to try to prevent a more long-term global recession,” says Jamie Lane, senior managing economist with CBRE. “Our current expectations are that this stimulus, as well as pent-up demand, will lead to a substantial rebound in economic activity in 2021.” Decline in lodging demand The lodging sector’s two main challenges are a contraction in overall economic activity and the need for social distancing that encourages staying at home in small groups and not traveling. As seen in other countries, these monetary and social restrictions will cause a severe decline in the lodging demand in the United States. CBRE’s updated forecast shows a 37 percent decline in revenue per available room (RevPAR) for the …
TUSCALOOSA, ALA. — SLH Tuscaloosa LLC will develop a 120-room Southern Living-branded hotel in Tuscaloosa. Included on the 38.7-acre site will be 32 cottages available for individual sale. The property is situated at the intersection of Rice Mine Road North and McFarlane Boulevard West, across the Black Warrior River from the University of Alabama. The 124,000-square-foot property will include a restaurant and rooftop lounge on the fourth floor, as well as a wellness center that will include massage and facial therapy rooms, a nail salon, blowout hair salon, exercise and yoga classes, fitness center outfitted with Peloton equipment, a pool, hot tubs and men’s and women’s locker rooms. Kennedy Funding provided the developer with a $2.8 million loan to acquire the land, which sold for a total of $5.5 million. A timeline for construction was not disclosed. There are 23 hotels currently in the Southern Living collection, ranging from Texas to Florida to Maryland.
MESA, ARIZ. — Tower Capital has secured $20.1 million in development financing for a Home2 Suites by Hilton in Mesa. The name of the borrower was not released. Concord Eastridge is developing the four-story, 111-key hotel, which will be situated on the 18th hole of the Longbow Golf Course in Mesa’s Falcon District. The Home2 Suites by Hilton brand features lifestyle-focused amenities, including suites with separate living and bedroom space and a “working wall” that incorporates a kitchen and flexible working/media space. Construction started in February with completion slated for the first quarter of 2021.
CHICAGO — As a result of COVID-19 significantly decreasing demand for hotel rooms and event space, Chicago-based Hyatt Corp. has suspended operations at many hotels and implemented temporary furloughs as well as pay and work reductions that will impact Hyatt corporate workers across the globe. The furloughs and reductions are in place from April 1 through May 31 and affect two-thirds of the company’s U.S. corporate employees, according to Bloomberg. The furloughs will enable Hyatt corporate staff to retain eligibility for healthcare and other benefits. Colleagues may also file for unemployment benefits during this period. Hyatt is also in the process of setting up a global Hyatt Care Fund, which will be seeded by 100 percent of Hyatt leadership team’s salary reductions as an initial contribution. Both President and CEO Mark Hoplamazian and Chairman of the Board Tom Pritzker are forgoing 100 percent of their salaries and Hyatt’s senior leadership team is taking a salary cut of 50 percent through the end of May. The proceeds of the fund will be distributed to those workers with the most pressing financial needs due to loss of income.
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Knighthead Funding LLC has provided a $30.5 million construction loan for Roost Charleston, a planned boutique hotel that will also include 11,003 square feet of retail space. The non-recourse, floating-rate loan has a 27-month term. The property will comprise a newly constructed building as well as three redeveloped, historic buildings. Roost Charleston will offer a combination of standard hotel guest rooms and extended stay apartments. Amenities will include a restaurant, café, spa and an outdoor courtyard. The building site is located at the northeast corner of King and George streets in historic Charleston. Brian Sullivan and Jonathan Daniel of Knighthead Funding originated the loan on behalf of the borrower, King & George Street LLC, an affiliate of Method Co. A timeline for construction was not disclosed.
NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY, PENNSYLVANIA, MASSACHUSETTS — An Oxford Economics study for the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) has found that 44 percent of hotel employees in every state have lost or are projected to lose their jobs as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. AHLA reports that hotel occupancy rates in some markets are below 20 percent following restrictions of air-travel and business shutdowns in many states, including New York. Of the state’s 112,897 direct hotel operations jobs, 49,674 have been lost or are projected to be lost in the coming weeks. Hotel job loss has also affected other major markets in the Northeast including New Jersey (52,490 jobs, 23,096 lost); Pennsylvania (65,229 jobs, 28,701 lost); and Massachusetts (40,562 jobs, 17,847 lost).
The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has not only impacted the physical health of humans around the world, but the health of the U.S. economy as well. While the stock market rallied over 11 percent on Tuesday, its biggest jump in nearly 90 years, on news that a federal stimulus bill to rescue the economy from the coronavirus was imminent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was still down 31 percent from its most recent high at the closing bell. Meanwhile, economists say weekly jobless claims — new filings for unemployment insurance — could hit 2 million or 3 million. The Labor Department will release the latest figures on Thursday morning. Before the coronavirus hit, weekly jobless claims hovered around 215,000. Though no one knows the true fallout yet — because we’re still in the thick of it. “The impact of the crisis on the commercial real estate market has been dramatic so far, and we are only in the beginning,” says Alex Zikakis, president and founder of Capstone Advisors, a real estate investment, development and asset management company in Carlsbad, Calif. “Many small businesses, especially in retail, are facing extreme pressure as people social distance and only shop for absolute necessities. I …