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.
Hospitality
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 …
NAPLES, FLA. — Pebblebrook Hotel Trust, a publicly traded hotel REIT, has purchased LaPlaya Beach Resort and LaPlaya Beach Club in Naples for a combined purchase price of $185.5 million. LaPlaya Beach Resort is a 189-room waterfront resort located on a six-acre tract of beach along the Gulf of Mexico and Vanderbilt Bay. The resort features 11,620 square feet of meeting space, a bar/restaurant, upscale spa, three outdoor swimming pools, 2,200-square-foot fitness center, seven-story parking garage, children’s aquatic and beach camp, watersport rentals and in-room dining. The private club has more than 800 active members and features a private dining room, private pool cabanas and a partnership with the LaPlaya Golf Course, which was not included in the acquisition. In addition to the resort and private club, the transaction includes the leasehold interest in a 23-slip marina on the Vanderbilt Bay side of the property. Daniel Peek, Max Comess, Chris Drew, Alexandra Lalos and Maxx Carney of HFF represented the seller, a partnership between affiliates of Noble House Hotels & Resorts Ltd. and Halstatt, in the transaction. Pebblebrook has retained Noble House Hotels & Resorts under a new operating agreement for the management of the hotel and private club.
SAVANNAH, GA. — HOS Management has begun construction on the new Fairfield Inn & Suites-Historic Savannah at 135 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in downtown Savannah. The Savannah-based developer has also begun building a public parking garage located adjacent to the hotel. The hotel will feature 140 guest rooms and meeting space that can accommodate up to 385 people. HOS Management expects to deliver the hotel and parking garage in July 2016. The company is also in the design/development stage for a new Aloft hotel in Savannah’s Historic District and has a future hotel in the pipeline at 321 Montgomery St. in Savannah.
MIAMI BEACH, FLA. — The city of Miami Beach commission has selected developer Portman Holdings and architect John Portman & Associates to develop and design the $405 million Miami Beach Convention Headquarter Hotel. The selection allows for the city manager to negotiate the terms of the development and ground lease for the hotel. The 800-room hotel will feature several pools, a fitness center, spa, business center and multiple food and beverage outlets, including a café, full-service restaurant and rooftop lounge. Another feature of the hotel is a grand welcoming gateway at the main intersection of 17th Street and Convention Center Drive. The hotel development will not use any taxpayer dollars — Portman’s plan is 100 percent privately funded with both debt and equity sources. The design team includes local architect Revuelta Architecture International and landscape architect West 8.
PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia Hospitality Partners L.P. has sold a majority interest of the Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia to Carey Watermark Investors Inc. The 299-room hotel features 26,000 square feet of meeting space, two food and beverage outlets and the Richel D’Ambra Spa and Salon. The new owner plans to implement a comprehensive $21.3 million, or $71,000 per key, renovation of the property beginning in the third quarter. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company will continue to manage the property. Hodges Ward Elliott represented the seller in the transaction. Financial terms of the sale were not released.
HOUSTON — SpringHill Suites by Marriott Houston Northwest, located at 20303 Chasewood Park Drive in Houston, is now open. The new hotel is a 139-room, all-suite property located along Highway 249 and Chasewood Park Drive and provides access to shopping, restaurants and entertainment districts. Local attractions include Vintage Park, Willowbrook Mall, Old Town Spring, Sam Houston Race Park and University Park. MAS Lodging Capital LLC, the sponsor, is a joint venture between Oldham Goodwin and TEKMAK Development that focuses on the acquisition and development of franchised hotel assets in markets throughout Texas.
ARLINGTON, VA. — Mesa West Capital has originated a $55 million mortgage loan to refinance the Hilton Crystal City, a 393-room hotel located in Arlington, a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. Nicholas Seidenberg and Michael Zelin of Eastdil Secured arranged the loan through Mesa West on behalf of the borrower, The JBG Cos. The non-recourse, floating-rate loan features interest-only payments for the full term, which is initially three years but features extension options. JBG renovated the hotel in September 2013, which helped boost the hotel’s occupancy and Average Daily Rate, according to Mesa West.
LEXINGTON, KY. — Hilton Worldwide has opened its first Home2 Suites by Hilton in Kentucky and its 53rd overall of the brand. The 103-room hotel, known as Home2 Suites by Hilton Lexington University/Medical Center, is located at 126 E. Lowry Lane and within three miles of downtown Lexington, area hospitals and the University of Kentucky. The hotel’s owner, Cohen Realty Inc., developed the hotel and has tapped Vista Host Inc. to manage it. The hotel features an indoor saline pool and an outdoor patio, as well as some of the brand’s trademark amenities such as the Oasis lobby, the Home2 MKT for grab-and-go items, the Spin2 Cycle (a combined laundry and fitness area) and complimentary continental breakfast at the “Inspired Table.”
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Strategic Hotels & Resorts has purchased the Four Seasons Austin hotel for $197 million. The 291-room hotel is located on 2.3 acres overlooking Lady Bird Lake in the midst of the Central Business District of Austin. The hotel features 28 suites, 18,000 square feet of indoor meeting space, two food and beverage outlets and a 5,500-square-foot spa. Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc. is a real estate investment trust that owns and provides value-enhancing asset management of high-end hotels and resorts in the United States and Europe. The company has ownership interests in 19 properties with a total of 8,616 rooms and 893,000 square feet of multi-purpose meeting and banqueting space.