NEWPORT, DEL. — Business partners E. Thomas Harvey III, Kostas Kalogeropoulous and Vince DiFonzo have partnered to form TKo Hospitality. As an affiliate of Harvey, Hanna & Associates, the new company will specialize in hotel and restaurant operations, third-party management, sales, marketing, food and beverage, and franchise relationship management. TKo currently operates and manages Lighthouse Cove Resort in Dewey Beach, Del., which consists of the Hyatt Place Hotel, The Residences of Lighthouse Cove Condominiums, The Lighthouse Restaurant, Que Pasa Mexican Restaurant, Crabbers Cove Restaurant and The Bay Center, an on-site large event venue. TKo plans to have 1,000 rooms in its portfolio. Additionally, the company has three development projects in the pipeline and plans to acquire existing third-party management contracts. Harvey will serve as chairman, Kalogeropoulous as president/CEO and DiFonzo as COO for the newly formed company.
GALESBURG, ILL. — Peak Construction Corp. has begun construction on a new Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Galesburg for Janko Group. IHG is rolling out a new prototype design for the Holiday Inn Express & Suites brand and the three-story, 81-room hotel will be one of the first new prototype hotels. Design builder Peak Construction broke ground on the project in January. The new hotel is being built to replace an existing Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Galesburg. The wood-frame structure will feature a variety of room types, a fitness facility, an indoor pool, multiple meeting rooms and a lifestyle lounge and business center. Completion of the project is schedule for October. Ligthtowler Johnson Associates provided architectural services for the project. Janko Hospitality will provide hotel management services.
ATLANTA — Atlanta-based Hotel Development Partners (HDP) and its joint venture partner, Atlanta-based Hotel Equities, have acquired a portfolio of seven select-service Marriott hotels in metro Atlanta and Macon. The joint venture purchased the portfolio from Houston-based Moody National for an undisclosed price. The seven hotels are Fairfield Inn & Suites in Macon, Fairfield Inn & Suites Alpharetta, Fairfield Inn & Suites Buckhead, Fairfield Inn & Suites Perimeter Center, SpringHill Suites Alpharetta, TownePlace Alpharetta and TownePlace Suites Kennesaw. HDP and Hotel Equities plan to invest $17 million in the portfolio for capital improvements. Hotel Equities will manage the seven hotels.
OAK BROOK, ILL. — Rosemont, Ill.-based First Hospitality Group Inc. has reopened The Drake Oak Brook hotel in Oak Brook. The boutique hotel recently underwent extensive renovations to the exterior, lobby, an 11,300-square-foot meeting space, a 2,000-square-foot outdoor patio, office space and its 84 guest rooms. Originally built in 1961 as the suburban counterpart to Chicago’s famous Drake Hotel, Jim Nagle and Tely Nagle own the independent hotel. First Hospitality Group manages the hotel. Unique details of the property include a piece of floral, floating artwork composed of 1,000 pieces of glass and a gold-leafed table in the lobby designed by an artist who’s work also appears in the Vatican, and original murals. The hotel is accessible to downtown Chicago and O’Hare International Airport via I-88 and I-294.
NEW YORK CITY — Muss Development LLC has launched a $43 million renovation and repositioning program for the 667-unit New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, located at 333 Adams St. in downtown Brooklyn. The first phase of renovation, including The Bar, front desk and M Club Lounge, will be revealed in May. The renovation of the hotel’s ballroom and meeting rooms is slated for completion in September. Additionally, the redesign of the guestrooms will be revealed this spring, with renovations expected to be complete in 2016.
KILLEEN, TEXAS — MCR Development LLC has completed a renovation of the Residence Inn by Marriott Killeen, a 109-suite hotel located at 400 E. Central Texas Expressway in Killeen. The hotel’s renovation featured furniture upgrades and fresh paint throughout the lobby, meeting spaces and in all guest suites. In addition, a communal table was installed in the lobby that guests can use to gather and socialize. All new beds were added to each guest room as well as an amenity shelf in each suite’s bathroom. Residence Inn by Marriott Killeen is located five miles from Fort Hood, a military base, and in proximity to Belton Lake Outdoor Recreation Area, Texas Thunder Speedway, Killeen Mall and Stone Tree Golf Club. All guest suites feature kitchens with separate living areas and 32-inch TVs. Hotel amenities include an outdoor swimming pool, a barbecue and picnic area and free high-speed Internet.
DESTIN, FLA. — Atlanta-based Bull Realty has brokered the $3 million sale of a 2.2-acre lot at the corner of Emerald Coast Parkway (Highway 98) and Restaurant Row in Destin, a popular tourist destination located on the Gulf of Mexico in Florida’s panhandle. CM Destin LLC, a hotel group, purchased the site from Spa Destin LLC and is planning a Home2Suites by Hilton concept at the location. The buyer will be demolishing the existing 14,875-square-foot Whitney National Bank to make room for the new hotel. Bull Realty was the only broker involved in the marketing and sale of the land site. The developer will be Cohen Investments, a Memphis-based REIT specializing in hotel and commercial property development and management.
LAKE OF THE OZARKS, MO. — Air Masters Corp. will complete a HVAC retrofit as part of the The Lodge of the Four Seasons hotel’s $11.5 million renovation in Lake of the Ozarks. Air Masters is incorporating a Building Automation System (BAS) to improve the hotel’s energy efficiency and savings. With guest room HVAC monitored by the BAS, hotel management will discover any potential issues before guests are inconvenienced. The hotel renovation includes the remodeling of 194 guestrooms and updating of all public areas including the entry, lobby, restaurants, meeting rooms, atrium and hallways. The project is scheduled for completion in December. The Lodge of Four Seasons offers 359 rooms and more than 60,000 square feet of meeting space. Amenities include 36 holes of golf, a full service marina and five restaurants. The Lodge is also the home of the nationally recognized Spa Shiki.
SAN DIEGO — An affiliate of Oak Coast Properties LLC has acquired the 219-room Doubletree San Diego-Hotel Circle for an undisclosed sum. The hotel is located at 1515 Hotel Circle South. The eight-story hotel includes the Panini Restaurant, meeting and event space, an outdoor pool and spa and a five-story parking garage. It was originally built in 1970. The Doubletree has undergone extensive renovations and modernization throughout the years. The buyer purchased the leasehold and land in two separate transactions that closed concurrently. The property will be managed by Portfolio Hotels & Resorts. It will continue to operate under the Doubletree by Hilton flag. The seller was two locally-based investment entities. They were represented by Bob Kaplan and Rod Apodaca of CBRE Hotels.
NASHVILLE, TENN. — HFF has arranged permanent financing for the 800-room Omni Nashville Hotel, a LEED Silver-certified, upscale hotel located across from Music City Center in downtown Nashville. Completed in 2013 and located at 250 Fifth Ave., the hotel features the 5,500-square-foot Mokara Spa, a rooftop swimming pool, whirlpool with a lounge deck and cabanas, business center, 80,000 square feet of meeting space, 49,000 square feet of pre-function space and dining options such as Bob’s Steak & Chop House, Kitchen Notes and Barlines. Whitaker Johnson, Jim Curtin and Sarah Baccich of HFF arranged the fixed-rate loan through Prudential Mortgage Capital on behalf of the borrower, TRT Holdings.