TACOMA, WASH. – The 319-room Hotel Murano in Tacoma has received $24.6 million in first-mortgage financing. The hotel is situated at 1320 Broadway, adjacent to the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Centerin the city’s Central Business District. It is one of only four hotels in the state to earn the Forbes 4-Star Award. The 10-year, fixed-rate, non-recourse loan was arranged by Sonnenblick-Eichner Company. It was provided by a Wall Street investment bank.
Hospitality
CHICAGO — First Hospitality Group Inc., in a joint venture with Skokie, Ill.-based North Capital Group LLC, is redeveloping the former Purple Hotel in Chicago. The new hotel will open as a SpringHill Suites in fall 2015 as part of a larger mixed-use project called The Shoppes at Lincoln Pointe, which will include retail, dining, grocery and office space. The five-story hotel will feature 160 guest rooms, 4,000 square feet of banquet space and 1,000 square feet of meeting space. The hotel is within close proximity to downtown Chicago, O'Hare airport, Loyola University and Northeastern Illinois University.
MIAMI — InterContinental Hotels Group’s (IHG) Hotel Indigo plans to open its third location in Miami in late 2016. Hotel Indigo Miami Brickell, located at 145 S.W. 11th St., is near the famous Brickell Avenue and downtown Miami. The $48 million hotel will have approximately 2,000 square feet of meeting space, a full restaurant, fitness center and an outdoor pool with its own bar and grill. The 24-story, 140-room hotel is a joint venture between HES Group and Sunview Cos. An affiliate of IHG has franchised the hotel.
NEW YORK CITY — Mission Capital Advisors has arranged $33 million in financing on behalf of New York-based investment and management company Icon Realty Management. The financing, a combination of CMBS and mezzanine, was arranged to refinance The GEM Hotel Chelsea, an 81-key, upscale boutique hotel located at 300 West 22nd St. in Manhattan. Gemini Real Estate Advisors manages the hotel. Jordan Ray, Jason Cohen and Ari Hirt of Mission Capital secured the five-year loan. The first-mortgage financing includes a CMBS loan with a 30-year amortization schedule and interest-only mezzanine financing. In addition to 81 hotel rooms, the five-story building features retail space leased to Forager’s Counter, a high-end gourmet market.
PHOENIX – The former Castle Hot Springs resort in Yavapai County has sold to CHS3, LLC for $1.9 million. The resort is located on North Castle Hot Springs Road in Castle Hot Springs, just north of Phoenix. The LLC purchased the property through an online auction. The 210-acre Castle Hot Springs resort opened in 1896. Its 118-degree natural hot spring produced 180,000 gallons of pure water daily. The seller, EktornetUS, a susidiary of Swedbank, was represented by Dave Headstream of CBRE’s Land Services Group in Phoenix. He worked in conjunction with CBRE Auction Services.
DORAL, FLA. — Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. has broken ground on Element Miami Doral as part of a dual-hotel development in metro Miami alongside Aloft Miami Doral, which opened in March 2013. Starwood will open the new hotel in July 2015. Eurocon LLC owns the 139-suite property. The hotel will feature a 24-hour fitness center, outdoor saline pool and a 1,500-square-foot meeting room. Element is the first major hotel brand to mandate that all properties pursue LEED certification, according to Starwood.
SPRING, TEXAS — Woodbine Development Corp. and InterMountain Management (IMM) have purchased more than three acres in the Houston suburb of Spring for the construction of a new 128-room Residence Inn. The extended-stay, select-service hotel will be within the Springwoods Village mixed-use community, an 1,800-acre, $10 billion development designed for sustainability. The property, set to open in the summer of 2015, will be located in proximity to I-45, as well as the future ExxonMobil campus in The Woodlands and the headquarters of Southwestern Energy. Other members of the Residence Inn project team include GH2 Hospitality Architects, Walter P. Moore Engineers and Precision Engineering, all based in Tulsa, Okla.; and DCI Engineers, which is based in Austin.
TEMECULA, CALIF. — Holiday Inn Express Temecula has received an $11.3-million SBA 504 loan. The hotel is located at 27660 Jefferson Ave. near Temecula’s wine country. The 20-year, fixed-rate loan was used to purchase the hotel. The financing will also allow the franchise owners to make interior upgrades and retain working capital. The loan was provided by TMC Financing. The lender was BBCN Bank. The sellers, Sapna and Sharad Khandwala of the Alps Group of Hotels, own and operate five hotels. Alps Group is also an SBA 504 client of TMC Financing.
QUAKERTOWN, PA. — Ayer Capital Advisors, an investment firm, and The Wankawala Organization, a hotel owner and management firm, have acquired a 78-room Holiday Inn Express & Suites Hotel in Quakertown, a southern suburb of Allentown, Pa. Ayer will work with The Wankawala Organization to manage the property. Ayer and Wankawala plan to acquire more than $150 million worth of select-service hotels in the next 18 months.
SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. — Hersha Hospitality Trust has acquired the 122-room Hotel Oceana in Santa Barbara for $41.7 million. The resort is located at 202 W. Cabrillo Blvd. near Santa Barbara Harbor. The hotel reported a 92 percent occupancy rate in 2013. “We recently completed the sale of 16 non-core assets, and the completion of the Hotel Oceana acquisition is further indication of our commitment to prudently recycle capital,” says Jay H. Shah, Hersha’s CEO. “These initiatives have resulted in a refined pure play transient focused portfolio with exposure to the highest demand gateway markets in the United States. Together with our properties in San Diego, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, the company’s West Coast assets are positioned to leverage solid growth fundamentals and limited supply growth in some of the leading markets on the West Coast.” The Oceana acquisition was funded with a portion of the net proceeds from the non-core portfolio sale. It included the assumption of $24.9 million in mortgage debt at a fixed rate of 4.4 percent that will mature in 2023.