NEW YORK CITY — Silver Arch Capital Partners has secured a $30.4 million loan for the purchase of the Out Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. The borrower, real estate management company Merchants Hospitality, has entered a partnership with hotel and restaurant branding company Cachet Hospitality Group to rebrand the 105-room, three-story hotel as the Cachet Boutique New York. A New York-based investment firm was the lender. Playboy Enterprises has partnered with Cachet to construct a Playboy Club franchise location on the property’s ground floor. Expected to open later this year, Cachet Boutique New York will feature an open-air garden and an outdoor spa. A central feature of the hotel, the Great Lawn, will be a 2,000-square-foot indoor-outdoor wine bar and meeting space. The Eden restaurant will provide on-site dining space. The property is located on West 42nd Street between 10th and 11th avenues. The Carlton Group’s Howard Michaels and Steven Weiss represented the borrower in the transaction.
STAMFORD, CONN. — UC Funds has acquired the Residence Inn by Marriott under construction in Stamford for $40 million. The property will be the only extended-stay hotel in downtown Stamford. Construction on the eight-story hotel is 60 percent complete, with delivery expected next winter. The 156-room property will include a fitness center, business center, breakfast area and meeting space.
LOS ANGELES — Shamina Investments has received an $11.2 million loan to acquire and renovate the 53-room Claremont Hotel Westwood in Los Angeles. The hotel is located at 1044 Tiverton Ave. in Westwood Village. The Claremont Hotel was built in 1939. The hotel will re-open the hotel in February 2018 as the Palihotel Westwood under the Paligroup hotel flag. Paligroup currently manages and operates four daily and extended-stay boutique properties in the Los Angeles area. The five-year, non-recourse loan was priced at a spread over the 30-day LIBOR. It includes structure for reserves to cover renovation costs, debt service and operating deficits prior to stabilization, according to Thorofare’s Felix Gutnikov, who originated the financing. The New York City office of Mission Capital Advisors LLC arranged the loan. The seller was a local family.
KNOXVILLE, TENN. — Paramount Hospitality Management LLC and Batson-Cook Development Co. have broken ground on a $43 million dual-branded hotel at the corner of Church and State streets in Knoxville. The property will include a 144-room Courtyard by Marriott and an 88-room Residence Inn. The 166,544-square-foot hotel will feature a rooftop lounge, a bar and café in the lobby and a three-level parking deck. Paramount and Batson-Cook plan to complete the hotel in the third quarter of 2018.
ODESSA, TEXAS — A joint venture between the City of Odessa, Eofficial Enterprises and Gatehouse Capital has broken ground on a Marriott Hotel and conference center in Odessa. The development will include a seven-story, 218-room hotel, 67,500-square-foot conference center, 365-stall parking garage and full-service Starbucks Coffee. Plans also include the refurbishment of Ector Theater, a historic performance and event venue originally built in 1951. The theater is located next to the new development. Construction is expected to take approximately 18 months, and will cost $79 million. Funding for the project will include $48 million from Sondra and Toby Eoff with Eofficial Enterprises, and $31.6 million from city officials. The development team includes general contractor UEB Builders; architect RTKL; hotel operator Aimbridge Hospitality; hotel brand Marriott Hotels and Resorts; structural engineer DCI; and interior designer Duncan Miller Ullman. Founded in 1997, Gatehouse Capital is a national real estate investment and development firm that has launched major mixed-use lifestyle developments, including hotels in the Hilton, Marriott and other brand families totaling more than $1 billion in completed development. — Katie Sloan
FLANDREAU, S.D. — Dougherty Funding has provided a $12 million loan for the second phase of the renovation and expansion of Royal River Casino and Hotel in Flandreau, located in eastern South Dakota. The funds will be used to renovate the bingo hall into a VIP lounge, as well as make improvements to the gaming and poker room. Plans also include the addition of an administrative building that will connect directly to the casino. Dougherty arranged the financing for the Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, which has owned and operated the property since 1990.
BETHESDA, MD. — RLJ Lodging Trust (NYSE: RLJ) has entered into an agreement to acquire Texas-based FelCor Lodging Trust Inc. (NYSE: FCH), creating a REIT with a pro forma equity market capitalization of $4.2 billion and an enterprise value of about $7 billion. The all-stock transaction, which will make RLJ the third largest pure-play lodging REIT, is expected to close by the end of 2017. The newly combined entity will own 160 Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and Wyndham hotels totaling 31,467 rooms across 26 states and Washington, D.C. At 41 percent and 36 percent, respectively, Marriott- and Hilton-branded hotels comprise the majority of the rooms in the portfolio. Under the terms of the transaction, the newly formed entity will continue to trade under the “RLJ” stock symbol. The Bethesda-based firm will also assume FelCor’s debt and preferred stock upon closing, with its shareholders expected to own approximately 71 percent of the FelCor’s diluted equity. Felcor’s current shareholders are expected to retain ownership of the remaining 29 percent. In addition, each share of FelCor common stock will be converted into 0.36 shares of RLJ common stock. The acquired company’s operating units will be exchanged for limited partnership units in RLJ’s operating partnership …
PLAINFIELD, IND. — Sun Development & Management has broken ground on a new Embassy Suites by Hilton hotel in Plainfield near the Indianapolis International Airport. The 175-suite hotel is located at 6089 Clarks Creek Road and is slated for completion in spring 2018. Amenities will include complimentary breakfast, an indoor pool, on-site restaurant and convention center.
MCKINNEY, TEXAS — Aimbridge Hospitality, a Texas-based hotel investment and management firm, has released plans for the Craig Ranch Resort and Conference Center, a hospitality development that will be situated on eight acres at the corner of Collin McKinney Parkway and Weiskopf Avenue in McKinney. The property, which will feature 285 rooms and 33,000 square feet of meeting space, will be part of the 2,200-acre, master-planned Craig Ranch development.
Hoteliers are poised to see higher revenues in 2017, thanks in large part to the shrinking national unemployment rate, according to a new report from Marcus & Millichap titled “U.S. Hospitality Investment Forecast.” The unemployment rate, which the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reports fell 20 basis points to 4.5 percent in March, is powering hospitality forecasts in several ways. Most fundamentally, as the economy expands and more jobs are created, wages begin to increase, leaving consumers with more disposable income for leisure and travel. Economic expansion also breeds more interstate commerce between businesses, driving up levels of work-related travel. In March 2017, the country added 56,000 jobs in the professional and business services sector, according to the BLS. Furthermore, since 2011, the U.S. has added between two and three million jobs per year. This growth has enabled workers to hold jobs for longer periods of time, giving them more accrued vacation days. Finally, as the workforce grows, younger employees gradually phase out older ones, leading to a growing segment of retirement-age consumers. These job-growth trends all point to increased consumer traveling and spending in 2017. As such, the hospitality sector is projecting a 1.4 percent growth in room demand …