MEDINA, OHIO; AND ALTOONA, IOWA — Best Western International has added two Midwest hotels to its worldwide chain. The company added the Best Western Medina Inn, a 77-room hotel at 2850 Medina Road in Medina. Owned by Hari OM Associates, the property offers 10 suites and three themed whirlpool suites, an indoor swimming pool, a dry sauna, a fitness center, guest laundry facilities, a business center and a complimentary hot continental breakfast buffet. Additionally the brand added the Best Western Altoona Inn, which is located at 300 34th Ave. in Altoona. Owned by Kalpesh Patel, the 85-room hotel offers an indoor heated pool, a fitness center, guest laundry facilities, complimentary high-speed Internet access, a business center and a complimentary hot continental breakfast buffet.
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Sonnenblick-Eichner Co. has arranged an $80 million first mortgage loan for Charleston Place, a luxury hotel in downtown Charleston. The 435-room hotel offers 57,000 square feet of retail space, two full-service restaurants, 37,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space, and a 20,000-square-foot state-of-the-art spa and fitness center. Retailers include Louis Vuitton, Gucci, LaCoste and Tommy Bahama. The borrower was Orient-Express Hotels.
CHICAGO — First Hospitality Group has re-opened Hampton Inn & Suites in Chicago's River North District, following a $4 million renovation. Located at 33 W. Illinois St., the 230-room hotel offers an updated lobby, update guestrooms and suites, an indoor swimming pool, an updated state-of-the-art fitness facility, a business center, a suite shop and a 5,000-square-foot meeting center.
SUGAR LAND — A 214-room Hyatt Place, the largest to date, has opened in Sugar Land, 20 minutes outside of Houston. Located at 16730 Creek Bend Dr., the hotel features more than 4,000 square feet of flexible meeting space as well as a lakeside pavilion with 2,000 square feet of function space. It is the 21st Hyatt Place in Texas and was developed by Hyatt Hotels & Resorts and Woodbine Development Corp.
NEW YORK CITY — Brack Capital Real Estate has partnered with a European hotel operator to develop a new hotel in Manhattan's Times Square. The joint venture signed a 99-year ground lease for 218-222 W. 50th St., which currently contains a parking garage. Specific plans for the hotel were not released, but the project will cost $50 million and will include construction of a 78,000-square-foot building. Sidney Rosenthal of Grubb & Ellis represented both parties in the deal.
BROOKLYN PARK, MINN. — Hotel Asset Value Enhancement and an institutional investment fund, which is managed by Fidelity Real Estate Group, have purchased The Northland Inn Brooklyn Park, a 231-room hotel in Brooklyn Park. The all-suite hotel features an eight-story atrium and 33,000 square feet of dedicated conference space. Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels was retained by a special servicer, Helios AMC, as the exclusive and sole agent in the disposition of the property.
SAVANNAH, GA. — The Carlton Hospitality Group has closed a $55 million performing loan sale secured by the Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa on Hutchinson Island in Savannah's River District. A private equity fund sponsored by a major sovereign wealth fund acquired the note from a private equity real estate fund. The 403-room hotel offers 35,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space and an 18-hole championship golf course, which was designed by Robert Cupp and Sam Snead. Brendan Sullivan of Carlton's Hospitality Group represented the seller in the transaction.
ROMULUS, MICH. — A local investment group has acquired Lexington Hotel, a 135-room hotel located at the entrance to the Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus. Monty Levy and Ted Anka of HREC Investment Advisors, along with GF Management, assisted with the transaction. The seller and acquisition price were not disclosed.
NEW YORK CITY — Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) has arranged a $92.5 million loan for the refinancing of the Hilton Times Square in New York City. The hotel comprises floors 21 through 45 of the building, which is located in the heart of Times Square. The loan carries a 10-year term and a fixed interest rate below 5 percent. The lender was Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The borrower, Sunstone Hotel Investors, plans to use the proceeds to retire the hotel's current $81 million loan, which carried a 5.95 percent interest rate and would have came to term in December. Mathew Comfort of JLL's Real Estate Investment Banking division and Jeffrey Davis of JLL Hotels secured the financing.
SAN ANTONIO — Embassy Suites Hotels has opened its newest location, the Embassy Suites San Antonio Riverwalk — Downtown at 125 E. Houston St. on the Riverwalk in central San Antonio. The full-service, all-suite property features 11,589 square feet of meeting space. It is owned by Blanco Rio, Ltd., which is a collaboration by IBC BancShares, Sam Friedman, president and CEO of Dimension Development, and Jack Guenther, a San Antonio native. It is the third Embassy Suites in the San Antonio area and the 22nd in Texas.