AUSTIN — Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and White Lodging Services Corp. plan to open a second Westin hotel in Austin. The Westin Austin Downtown will be located on the northeast corner of East Fifth Street and San Jacinto Boulevard in downtown Austin. The 17-story, 326-room hotel is scheduled to break ground in 2013 and open in spring 2015. The hotel will feature a White Lodging-managed restaurant, fitness center and 13,500 square feet of state-of-the-art meeting and banquet space. The hotel is anticipated to bring more than 130 permanent jobs to the area, as well as $4.5 million in taxes annually. White Lodging has formed a joint venture with the Harry Whittington family and REI Real Estate Services for the hotel's development.
HOUSTON — An affiliate of Wheelock Street Capital has purchased the 297-room Hilton Houston Westchase Hotel, located on Westheimer Road in Houston's Westchase District. The hotel includes 11,200 square feet of meeting space and the Rio Ranch Restaurant. The buyer acquired the hotel from an affiliate of Interstate Hotels & Resorts, which will continue to manage the hotel on behalf of Wheelock.
ATLANTA — Clermont Hotel Partners LLC has purchased The Clermont Hotel, located at 789 Ponce de Leon Ave. in the Virginia Highlands submarket of Atlanta, with plans to redevelop the property as a boutique hotel. The historic building was built in the 1920s as apartments and converted to a hotel in the 1940s. The Clermont Hotel includes an iconic club on the ground level, which has been in operation for nearly 50 years. The hotel has been shut down since Dec. 31, 2009. Jake Reid of Franklin Street Real Estate Services represented the seller, Fairway Capital, in the transaction. The buyer is an affiliate of Nashville, N.Y.-based BNA Associates LLC.
PORTLAND, MAINE — Chatham Lodging Trust has acquired the recently opened Hampton Inn Portland Downtown — Waterfront Hotel for $28 million. The deal includes an adjacent land parcel, which can be sold or used for future development. The six-story, 122-room hotel is located at 209 Fore Street in the Old Port district. The ground floor of the hotel includes the separately-owned Sebago Brewing Co. Island Hospitality Management will oversee operations at the hotel.
BOSTON — LaSalle Hotel Properties has purchased a majority interest in Boston's Liberty Hotel through a joint venture with the developer and co-owner, an entity controlled by Dick Friedman of Carpenter & Co., for $170 million. The 298-room hotel is located at 215 Charles St. in the Beacon Hill neighborhood. It was built in 1851 as the Charles Street Jail and housed a number of famous inmates including Boston Mayor James Michael Curley and Malcolm X. The property was redeveloped as a hotel, which opened in 2007. The asset will continue to operate under The Luxury Collection franchise.
OKEECHOBEE, FLA. — A 40-room Travelodge Suites has sold in Okeechobee. Jonathan Ruprai and Dennis Hopper of Marcus & Millichap’s Tampa, Fla., office represented the seller, a local limited liability company. Ruprai secured the buyer, a North Carolina-based private investor.
WOODBURY, MINN. — Hunter Hotels Advisors has closed on the $14 million sale of the 150-room Sheraton Woodbury hotel located in the Twin Cities market. Schulte Hospitality Group in Kentucky purchased the five-story hotel, which was built in 2008. Atlanta-based Hunter Hotel Advisors represented both Schulte and the owner, Minneapolis-based Dougherty Funding in the deal.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Summit Hotel Properties, a REIT, has closed on the acquisition of three hotels in Utah, New York and Florida for a combined total of $71.8 million. The hotels include: the 178-room Residence Inn by Marriott in Salt Lake City, Utah, for $20 million; the 122-room Hyatt Place in Long Island, N.Y., for $31 million; the 138-room Hampton Inn & Suites in Tampa, Fla. for $20.8 million. Summit expects to spend a total of $8.8 million on renovations of these hotels. Summit acquired the Hyatt Place hotel and Hampton Inn & Suites from OTO Development, which is based in Spartanburg, S.C. Additionally, Summit has consolidated its executive office to Austin.
CHICAGO — Cohen Financial’s Chicago and Phoenix offices have secured an $11.9 million loan for the purchase of two owner-occupied industrial properties, a 12,680-square-foot property in South Carolina and a 146,050-square-foot property in Georgia. The borrower, a manufacturer, is the only tenant in both properties. Zions National Real Estate provided the financing.
SAN ANTONIO — Laurus Corp., a private real estate investment and development firm, has acquired the 384-room Hilton San Antonio Airport Hotel, located at 611 NW Loop 410, less than two miles away from the San Antonio International Airport. The 14-story hotel features 16,000 square feet of meeting space, a sports bar, restaurant and an amenity package. The acquisition is the second investment for Laurus Corp.'s opportunistic Ethika Fund. The company plans to invest approximately $9 million in renovations.