SOUTH PADRE ISLAND — New Braunfels-based Schlitterbahn has plans to open a 221-room, beachfront indoor waterpark hotel known as Schlitterbahn Beach Resort in South Padre Island. The hotel will feature retail, restaurants and an indoor/outdoor convertible waterpark. Phase I of the development is slated to open summer 2012. The hotel will operate year-round.
NEW YORK CITY —DoubleTree by Hilton has opened its fifth New York City area hotel in Manhattan. Formerly a Wyndham Garden Hotel, the new 224-room DoubleTree By Hilton New York-Times Square South is situated on 36th Street between Eighth and Ninth avenues. The hotel includes 1,600 square feet of conference space, a fitness facility and wireless Internet access. Additionally, the hotel features a 24-hour self-service business center and complimentary printing service.
NEW YORK CITY — In a joint venture, FelCor Lodging Trust purchased the Knickerbocker Hotel in Manhattan for $115 million. The property at Broadway and 42nd Street was purchased in a partnership with an affiliate of Highgate Holdings LLC. The hotel is FelCor's third New York property, and its redevelopment will be completed in late 2013. The hotel will include 330 guest rooms, a rooftop sky bar overlooking Times Square and a fitness facility. FelCor also announced it is marketing 16 hotels and plans to use the money from the sales to reduce debt.
HOUSTON — Hyatt North Houston, a 335-room hotel formerly known as the Crowne Plaza Houston North-Greenspoint and located at 425 N. Sam Houston Pkwy. E., has opened following a multi-million dollar renovation. Memphis, Tenn.-based Davidson Hotels & Resorts operates the hotel under a franchise agreement with Hyatt Hotels Corp. The property features a fitness facility, outdoor swimming pool, spa, business center, gift shop and Grill 425, an American-style restaurant.
NEW YORK CITY — Chesapeake Lodging Trust has agreed to acquire the 185-room Hyatt Place New York Midtown South in New York City, for $76.5 million. The hotel is currently under development at 52-54 W. 36th St. Chesapeake plans to close on its purchase following the completion of the hotel, which is slated for the third quarter. Additionally, the trust agreed to provide the seller $6.5 million in bridge financing for the development of the hotel.
MADISON, IND. — The Lodging Unlimited Group of Cos. has been appointed receiver of the Country Hearth Inns & Suites hotel in Madison by a Midwestern savings bank. The hotel is located at 308 DeMaree Dr. and will be operated by Lodging Unlimited's Chicago-based hotel management division. The hotel investment company reports a 50-year track record of operating and turning around troubled hotels. It is the eighth hotel currently owned and operated by the company.
COCONUT CREEK, FLA. — Doral, Fla.-based Morlin Hospitality Group has acquired a 2.5-acre site, located close to the intersection of the Sawgrass Expressway and State Road 7 in Coconut Creek, from a Peru-based university. The company plans to build a $12 million, 107-room limited service “flag” hotel on the property, the first hotel to be built in Coconut Creek. The flag has yet to be determined, but the company is in talks with a variety of hotel brands. Groundbreaking is slated for July, with completion anticipated for September of 2013.
DALLAS — The 170-room Stoneleigh Hotel & Spa, located at 2927 Maple Ave. in uptown Dallas, has become the newest member of the Luxe Hotels portfolio. The hotel will be known as The Luxe Stoneleigh Dallas Hotel & Spa in the second quarter of 2012. CAM Hospitality Management manages the property.
PHILADELPHIA — Optimum Hotel Brokerage has closed on the bank REO sale of the Spencer Suites (formerly Clarion Suites) in Manchester. Joseph McCann of Optimum represented the seller, a national bank located in California. The buyer was a local owner/operator. The 104-room property was developed in the early 1990s as a Generation One Residence Inn by Marriott. The asset was formerly held by an affiliate of Lehman Brothers. After the company's bankruptcy, the hotel was returned to its California-based lender, which hired Optimum to market the property.
MIDLAND — Marcus & Millichap has secured the sale of a 68-room Comfort Inn, located at 902 Interstate 20 W. in Midland, for $5.3 million. Tyler Bean, Michael Yu and Rahul Bijlani of Marcus & Millichap's Houston office represented the seller, a limited liability company, in the transaction.
