FREMONT, CALIF. — Ashford Hospitality Trust has acquired the 357-room Fremont Marriott Silicon Valley hotel for a reported $50 million. The hotel is located at 46100 Landing Parkway in the Silicon Valley submarket of Fremont. The hotel also contains 15,000 square feet of meeting space spread throughout 19 flexible meeting rooms. It will be managed by Remington Lodging. Cushman & Wakefield Global Hospitality served as the exclusive advisor to AIG. The team also served as exclusive advisor to AHT in arranging the $37.5-million financing for the hotel’s acquisition. The floating-rate loan was provided by a money center bank. Daniel MacDonnell, James Escarzega and Steve Michels served as advisors to AIG in the sale. MacDonnell and Michels also served as advisors to AHT in the acquisition’s financing.
Hospitality
CLEAR LAKE, IOWA — Dougherty Funding has provided a $3.5 million first mortgage loan for the refinancing of the Best Western Holiday Lodge in Clear Lake, approximately nine miles west of Mason City. Clear Lake Hotel Associates LLC was the borrower. The 136-room hotel is situated on approximately seven acres and includes a Bennigan’s Grill & Tavern restaurant. The property features a heated indoor swimming pool, 24-hour exercise facility, business center/work area, and 5,600 square feet of meeting space. Clear Lake Hotel Associates has begun upgrading the guestroom bathrooms and is planning to make improvements to the interior of the Bennigan’s restaurant.
FRANKLIN, TENN. — HFF has arranged the sale of Franklin Marriott Cool Springs, a 300-room hotel located at 700 Cool Springs Blvd. in the Cool Springs office district in Franklin, a suburb of Nashville. The hotel includes three restaurants, a fitness center, business center, indoor pool and three concierge floors. The hotel is connected to the Cool Springs Conference Center. Daniel Peek, K.C. Patel and Cyrus Vazifdar of HFF represented the seller in the transaction.
SANTA CRUZ, CALIF. – The 33-room Casa Blanca Inn in Santa Cruz has sold to Kishor and Nita Patel for $7.2 million. The hotel is located at 101 Main Street. Acquisition financing was provided by Bruce Whitaker of TMC Financing through the SBA 504 commercial real estate loan program. The lender was Bank of The Orient. The transaction was facilitated by Neville Parujanwala of hospitality management firm Hospitality Funding.
HOUSTON — Songy HighRoads and The Carlyle Group have closed on construction financing and the subdivision of land for a second hotel in the Galleria Place mixed-use project in Houston. Carlyle’s share of the equity comes from Carlyle Realty Partners VI, a $2.34 billion real estate investment fund. The new Hyatt Place will be a 157-room, select-service hotel at the intersection of Sage Road and West Alabama Street near Galleria Mall. It will join the 325-room Hyatt Regency full-service hotel, which broke ground last December. Both hotels are expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2015. Amegy Bank provided construction financing. Gensler performed Hyatt Place’s architectural design. McCarthy Construction is the general contractor. The site spans 7.6 acres.
CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, PA. — Hilton Worldwide has opened its 38th Home2 Suites by Hilton worldwide. Located at 1401 Cranberry Woods Dr. in Cranberry Township, the property is the fourth of the brand in Pennsylvania and the second in the Pittsburgh metro area. Home2 Suites by Hilton Pittsburgh Cranberry is located 30 minutes from the Pittsburgh International Airport and one mile from the City Center. The 79-suite hotel, which is owned and managed by Vista Host, features an Oasis lobby area, Home2 MKT, Spin2 Cycle and complimentary continental breakfast.
BRIAN HEAD, UTAH — New York City-based real estate investor Zohar A. Cohen has acquired the 100-room Grand Lodge at Brian Head and the nearby Braffits Creek Estates development for $100 million. The luxury ski lodge is located at 314 Hunter Ridge Drive in Brian Head. The resort is valued at more than $30 million. It includes a 4-star luxury hotel, gourmet steakhouse, and extensive dining and bar facilities. The Grand Lodge opened in 2010. The Braffits Creek Estates development is situated on 2,654acres on Cedar Mountain in Iron County. It is about 10 miles west of Brian Head Ski Resort, near Cedar City. The first mortgage on the property sold for $60 million. The development is currently in bankruptcy court. Timothy W. Walsh of the McDermott, Will & Emery firm is handling the litigation. Ankur Gupta of the law firm McDermott, Will & Emery LLP is providing counsel to Cohen Brian Head Entity. Cohen acquired the assets through the ownership entity Cohen Braffits Estates Development LLC. The assets are being managed by Arthur W. Levine, special counsel and advisor to Cohen, along with Kenneth I. Denos, an executive at Equus Total Return.
LOS ANGELES — Laurus Corporation has acquired the 474-room Marriott Warner Center hotel in the Los Angeles submarket of Woodland Hills for an undisclosed sum. The 16-story, full-service hotel is located at 21850 Oxnard Street. The hotel is situated within the pre-planned Woodland Hills/Warner Center development, a corporate hub with more than 10.3 million square feet of office space. It is one of the largest office submarkets in the Greater Los Angeles area. Marriott Warner Center hotel also sits directly adjacent to the 614,400-square-foot Westfield Promenade mall and the 1.6-million square-foot Westfield Topanga Shopping Center.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. — Homewood Suites by Hilton has opened its first hotel in Charlottesville known as the Homewood Suites by Hilton Charlottesville. The four-story hotel, located at 2036 India Drive, offers 150 suites and is located less than one mile from the University of Virginia. Albemarle Suites LLC owns the hotel and Heritage Hospitality Management Inc. is the hotel’s management firm.
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — CBRE Hotels has brokered the sale of The Ashton Hotel in downtown Fort Worth. Ashton Hotel Partners sold the property to a Dallas-based hotel REIT, which plans to renovate and operate the property. The Ashton Hotel first opened in 1890 and expanded from two stories to six in 1915. The hotel was renovated in 2001 and again in 2008. It features 39 guestrooms and is home to the Six 10 Grille restaurant. The property also includes event space for weddings, social gatherings and corporate functions. Bert Stevens, with CBRE Hotels in Dallas, represented the seller in the transaction.