HOUSTON — Greenwich, Conn.-based Wheelock Street Capital has acquired the 380-room DoubleTree Suites by Hilton, located on Westheimer Road in the Houston Galleria submarket. The hotel features 10,000 square feet of meeting space. Westmont Hospitality will manage the hotel on behalf of Wheelock. The Plasencia Group represented the seller, an institutional investor group, in the transaction.
NEW ORLEANS — The 246-room Bourbon Orleans Hotel, located at 717 Orleans St. in New Orleans, has completed a multi-million dollar renovation. Upgrades to guestrooms include new bedding, carpeting, wall colors and coverings, interior plantation shutters and furnishings. The bathrooms received extra counter space, black granite surfaces and black tile and glass-enclosed showers. Property renovations include repainting all exterior balconies and window frames, as well as the addition of an enlarged fitness center. The renovation began in August 2011.
ORLANDO, FLA. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the $5.6 million sale of the 214-room Quality Suites – South Orlando, located at 9350 Turkey Lake Rd. in Orlando. Ahmed Kabani of Marcus & Millichap's Miami office represented the seller, a limited liability company, in the transaction and procured the buyer, a private investor.
NEW YORK CITY — PCCP has arranged a $65 million loan for the acquisition and repositioning of Cassa Hotel, on behalf of China-based HNA Property Holding Group. The 165-room luxury hotel is located at 70 W. 45th St. in New York City. The loan is secured by the lower 24 stories and basement levels of a 45-story tower, with floors 25 to 45 consisting of residential condo units that are not collateral for the loan. In addition to the hotel rooms, the property includes 11,000 square feet of restaurant space leased to BLT Restaurant and 1,100 square feet of meeting space. HNA plans to renovate and rebrand the hotel, which Viceroy Hotel Group will manage.
NEW YORK CITY — A partnership between hotel investment firm Chartres Lodging Group and Apollo Global Real Estate Management has completed the purchase of Novotel New York Times Square, a 480-room hotel on 52nd Street and Broadway. The seller was a subsidiary of Accor Business and Leisure Management, which will continue to operate the hotel under the Novotel flag. The partnership plans to renovate the property by adding meeting rooms, a new fitness center and renovating the guest rooms and Terrace Bar overlooking Times Square. The purchase price was undisclosed.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. General Services Administration has selected Trump Hotel Collection to redevelop the 100,000-square-foot Old Post Office Building, located at Pennsylvania Avenue and 12th Street in Washington, D.C. The property will become the 250-room Trump International Hotel, The Old Post Office. The building will be redeveloped to include guest rooms, penthouses and presidential suites, world-class restaurants, a cafe, a bar and lounge, extensive banquet, ballroom and meeting facilities, The Spa at Trump and a library, as well as a curated museum, exhibition gallery and indoor and outdoor gardens.
PASADENA — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $1.85 million sale of the 60-room Former Holiday Inn Express, a hotel located at 2601 Spencer Hwy. in Pasadena. Eric Guerrero, Michael Yu and Rahul Bijlani of Marcus & Millichap's Houston office represented the seller, a partnership, in the transaction. Guerrero, Yu, Bijlani and Tyler Bean, also of Marcus & Millichap's Houston office, represented the buyer, a private investor.
ATLANTA AND MEMPHIS, TENN. — Atlanta-based Noble Investment Group has plans to begin a $40 million renovation of the 191-room Hyatt Atlanta Midtown and the 243-room Memphis Marriott East. The Hyatt Atlanta Midtown is located at the corner of Peachtree and 10th Streets in Atlanta. The $21 million renovation will include removal of the old facade and creation of a modern architectural design, as well as a complete renovation of guest rooms and public spaces. Completion is slated for early 2013. The Memphis Marriott East, located at the intersection of Interstate 240 and Poplar Avenue in Memphis, will undergo a $19 million renovation, which will include a modernized exterior as well as upgraded guest rooms, reconfigured public spaces, a new restaurant and bar, incorporation of a Marriott Great Room lobby and enhancement of 10,000 square feet of meeting and event space. Completion is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2012.
HOUSTON — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of the 111-room Econo Lodge Webster, a hotel located at 904 E. NASA Rd. 1 in Houston. Tyler Bean, Rahul Bijlani and Michael Yu of Marcus & Millichap's Houston office represented the seller, a bank/financial institution, and secured the buyer, a private investor, in the transaction.
FREDERICK, MD. — NorthMarq Capital has arranged $6.8 million in first mortgage refinancing for the 90-room Courtyard by Marriott, located at 5225 Westview Dr. in Frederick. Gary McGlynn and Brendan Scanlon of NorthMarq's Washington, D.C., office negotiated the loan through Wells Fargo, N.A.