TAMPA, FLA. — McKibbon Hotel Group has opened the 144-unit Homewood Suites by Hilton Tampa Airport/Westshore at Avion Park Westshore in Tampa. Located at the intersection of Spruce and O’Brien streets, the property includes a fitness center and an outdoor heated pool. Units feature fully equipped kitchens, flat-screen HDTVs and free wireless Internet. The hotel will be managed by McKibbon Hotel Management. The Homewood Suites joins the Hilton Garden Inn and TownePlace Suites by Marriott Tampa Westshore hotels, which are both already open at Avion Park Westshore.
ALBANY, N.Y. — The grand opening has been held for Hotel Indigo Albany–Latham, a 107-room boutique hotel located in the Wolf Road business district of Albany. Owned by Shaker Hills Hospitality under an exclusive license agreement with Atlanta-based InterContinental Hotels Group, the five-story hotel features a fitness center, a 24-hour business center and approximately 1,200 square feet of meeting space. Food and beverage options include a Starbucks Coffee location and Blue Stone Bistro, which contains a 40-foot long bar and two separate dining rooms that can accommodate up to 125 people. The restaurant will open in January. The hotel was re-branded a Hotel Indigo after a $4 million renovation. DeLaCruz Enterprises provided interior design work for the project. The Albany location marks the second Hotel Indigo in New York.
NORTHLAKE, TEXAS — Carrollton, Texas-based Accor North America has held the groundbreaking for a new Motel 6 located in Northlake. The new hotel is the first corporate-built and owned property to feature the chain’s new “Phoenix” prototype design. Features include a new exterior designed by Dallas-based BOKA Powell; a 24-hour food and beverage vending area; and rooms that include a 32-inch, flat-panel television, a multi-media panel and wireless Internet access. The new prototype will also include sustainable features such as wood-effect laminate flooring made from pre-consumer recycled material and a building designed to house solar panels for water heating. The Northlake Motel 6 is scheduled to open during the second half of 2009. Accor has also begun renovating existing corporate-owned hotels in Texas and select properties across the country with the new design.
RIDGECREST, CALIF. — San Antonio-based K Partners Hospitality Group LP has broken ground for the development of a 94-room Hampton Inn & Suites in Ridgecrest. The three-story hotel will feature a business center, 800 square feet of meeting space, a fitness center, a complimentary hot breakfast, an outdoor pool and spa, and a suite shop. The hotel will be owned and operated by K Partners.
KANSAS CITY, KAN. — Kansas Entertainment LLC has temporarily pulled the plug on its $700 million Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Project, which was expected to be located in Kansas City. The 50/50 joint venture between Kansas Speedway Development Corp. — a wholly owned International Speedway Corp. subsidiary — and The Cordish Company has withdrawn its application for Lottery Gaming Facility Manager for the Northeast Kansas Gaming zone. Although the joint venture was willing to move forward with its $400 million casino and dining and entertainment venues, the remaining hotel, convention facilities and additional entertainment components would need to be developed in subsequent phases. Because a phased development plan was not included in the existing agreement, the joint venture was forced to withdraw, with plans to re-apply upon the re-opening of bidding for the zone. The joint venture cites financing constraints as the reason for a phased plan. Initial plans for the final facility called for a 300-room luxury hotel; a state-of-the-art casino; 275,000 square feet of retail, dining and entertainment space, including a live music venue; and meeting and convention components.
TEMPE, ARIZ. — Town Lake Development Partners LLC and Hyatt Hotels & Resorts are developing a 240-room Hyatt Regency hotel at the Hayden Ferry Lakeside development, which is located on the south shore of Tempe Town Lake in Tempe. The 14-story hotel will feature 240 rooms, 24 condominiums, a 4,500-square-foot spa and 13,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 5,000-square-foot ballroom. Construction is expected to begin in summer 2009, with completion slated for spring 2011.
POOLER, GA. — D Construction Services of Orlando has broken ground on a 142,000-square-foot Embassy Suites at the Savannah International Airport. The $17 million project is located at 145 Mulberry Blvd. in Pooler and will include an indoor pool and spa, fitness and business centers and 3,385 square feet of meeting space. The hotel is expected to deliver by next December.
ATLANTA — Atlanta-based Hunter Realty Associates has brokered the sale of hotels in Birmingham, Ala., Bristol, Va., and Atlanta for a combined price of more than $28 million. The purchases were financed with an SBA loan, a conventional loan and a CMBS loan. Located at 4400 Colonnade Parkway in Birmingham, a 67-room Comfort Inn & Suites sold to DR & MV Hospitality. A170-unit Courtyard by Marriott, located at 3169 Linden Dr. in Bristol, was purchased by Apple Nine SPE Bristol. A Best Western in Atlanta was sold to Kennesaw Hospitality. Names of the sellers were not released.
PHILADELPHIA —The grand opening has been held for Four Points by Sheraton Philadelphia Convention Center, a 92-room hotel located at 1201 Race St. in Philadelphia, across the street from the Philadelphia Convention Center. Amenities at the hotel include 2,688 square feet of flexible meeting space, a full-service restaurant, a fitness center, a hotel lounge, and free high-speed Internet access in all public areas and guestrooms. The hotel will be managed by Salisbury, Md.-based Marshall Management under an agreement with locally based Lam’s Realty Corp. The Four Points by Sheraton is Marshall’s second managed hotel in the city and its seventh in the state.
MOAB, UTAH — Christian Child and Mike Francis of Marcus & Millichap’s Salt Lake City office represented the undisclosed seller in the disposition of La Quinta Inn & Suites in Moab. Located at 815 S. Main St., the three-floor hotel features 99 rooms, a continental breakfast area, a business center, a meeting room, an exercise room, guest laundry, vending machines and a swimming pool. The property was listed for $7 million; the acquisition price was not disclosed. The details regarding the seller and buyer were not released.