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.
Hospitality
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.
SAN ANGELO — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of Days Inn San Angelo, a 113-room hotel in San Angelo, Texas. Terms of the sale were not released. Chris Gomes and Allan Miller, with Marcus & Millichap’s San Antonio office, marketed the property on behalf of the seller, a limited liability company. The buyer was a private investor. Days Inn San Angelo is located at 4613 S. Jackson St. in San Angelo. The hotel is accessible by Loop 306 and U.S. Highways 87 and 277. The property was built in 1983.
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — CBRE has arranged the sale of the 346-room W Fort Lauderdale Hotel and the remaining 147 residences in the 171-unit Residences at W Fort Lauderdale. The twin 23-story towers are located at 401 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd. (W Hotel) and 3101 N. Bayshore Drive (Residences). An affiliate of Related Fund Management acquired the two properties for an undisclosed price. Robert Given, Zachary Sackley, Neal Victor and Robert Taylor of CBRE represented the seller, along with Robert Kaplan, Mark Rutherford and Chris Lentz of The Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group.
CINCINNATI — Hyde Park Commercial Group, a Cincinnati-based advisory firm, has arranged a $1.8 million refinance loan for a 60-room Quality Inn hotel in Illinois. Refinancing for the limited-service hotel was arranged through a regional bank. The hotel was facing a loan maturity. The owners wanted to improve the terms of existing financing. Hyde Park CG underwrote, packaged and shopped the loan to multiple community, regional and national banks.
PLEASANTON, CALIF. – The 292-room DoubleTree by Hilton Pleasanton at the Club has opened in Pleasanton. The hotel is located at the crossroads of highways 580 and 680. The property was formerly a Hilton Hotels & Resorts-branded property. It is owned and operated by Johnson Hotel Company and managed by Pacific Pearl Hotels. The DoubleTree also contains 10,000 square feet of flexible meeting and event space, a restaurant and lounge, fitness center, outdoor pool and a 24-hour business center.
MARIETTA, GA. — The Radisson Atlanta Northwest has opened in Marietta, an Atlanta suburb, following a comprehensive renovation. San Diego-based LLJ Frontera Atlanta Ventures owns the 218-room, 10-story hotel. Dallas-based Frontera Hotel Group manages the property. The Radisson Atlanta Northwest features 6,600 square feet of flexible meeting space, a full-service restaurant, lobby bar with 12 large-screen TVs, fitness center and a seasonal outdoor swimming pool.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Hilton Worldwide is bringing Columbia its first dual-branded hotel at 1615 Gervais St., the site of the current Clarion Hotel Downtown. Franchisee Gervais Street Hotel LLC and development and management firm CN Hotels Inc. will rebrand and convert the Clarion into a 110-room Hilton Garden Inn and 100-room Home2 Suites by Hilton. The new hotel property will open in 2016 and will join Hilton’s existing 16 dual-branded hotels. The two hotels will share amenities, including 5,500 square feet of meeting space, an outdoor pool, indoor pool, outdoor garden, firepit and Carolina’s Restaurant.