EL PASO, TEXAS — Cohen Hospitality Group is developing El Paso’s first Candlewood Suites, located at the intersection of Interstate 54 and Cohen Avenue near Fort Bliss military base. The property will cost $5.2 million and will feature 92 suites over four floors. Hotel amenities will include an indoor pool, complimentary high-speed Internet access and a 24-hour fitness center. It will be managed by Cohen Hospitality Realty. Groundbreaking is expected to occur in the fourth quarter, with completion scheduled for fourth quarter 2009.
LOS ANGELES — Next Century Associates, a joint venture with an entity in the D. E. Shaw group, has acquired Century Plaza Hotel for $366.5 million or approximately $505,000 per room, from Sunstone Hotel Investors. Located at 2025 Avenue of the Stars in Los Angeles, the renowned 19-story hotel features 726 guestrooms and 85,000 square feet of meeting space, including the Los Angeles Ballroom. Sunstone purchased the hotel in 2005 and implemented a $36 million improvement program. Hyatt will continue to operate the property, which features extensive gardens, four outdoor swimming pools with private cabanas, a 20-room spa and several restaurants.
DENVER — InterContinental Hotels Group is developing its fifth property in the Denver market. Located at 6951 Tower Rd., the six-floor, 103,597-square-foot property will feature 150 suites, a 350-square-foot meeting room, an indoor pool, barbeque grills, a library, a courtyard with a gazebo and fire pit, complimentary wireless Internet access, a 24-hour business center, a fitness center, a lounge with seating and a large-screen television, and a Bridgemart 24-hour convenience store. The franchised property is owned by Today’s V Inc. and managed by Providence Hospitality Partners, under a license agreement with the InterContinental Hotels Group. The $17 million Staybridge Suites property is slated to open this summer.
DENVER — Red Lion Hotels Corp. has acquired the Renaissance Hotel Denver Southeast for $25.3 million. Located along Interstate 225, the hotel has been re-named the Red Lion Hotel Denver Southeast. The hotel features 25,000 square feet of meeting space, a two-story parking garage, a swimming pool, a business center, a 120-seat restaurant and a 50-seat lounge. Red Lion plans to invest $8 million on renovations for the property.
CLEVELAND — Terry O’Brien of Washington-based Molinaro Koger has arranged the sale of the 213-room Holiday Inn Cleveland-East, Ohio, on behalf of Ridgehills Hotel. The hotel, which features an indoor pool, more than 8,000-square-feet of meeting space, and two food and beverage outlets, was acquired by Inn at the Wickliffe for an undisclosed price. The buyer plans to manage the facility and execute an extensive renovation to capture increased market shares.
GRAPEVINE, TEXAS — Turner Construction has topped out construction of the expansion of Great Wolf Lodge – Grapevine, an indoor water park and resort located at 1400 Highway 26 in Grapevine. The expansion will add 203 guest suites to the resort, bringing the total up to 605 upon completion. The expansion also will bring the resort’s meeting space to 27,000 square feet, comprising a 7,500-square-foot ballroom, six meeting rooms, two board rooms, more than 4,000 square feet of pre-function space and six outdoor event areas. Completion is scheduled for December.
FLORIDA, TENNESSEE AND NORTH CAROLINA — Sonnenblick-Eichner has arranged $60 million in financing for a seven property hotel portfolio in Florida, Tennessee and North Carolina on behalf of Cooper Hotels. The portfolio includes Crowne Plaza Fort Myers, Florida; Doubletree Memphis, Doubletree Murfreesboro, Doubletree Jackson, Doubletree Oak Ridge, and Doubletree Johnson City, all in Tennessee; and Homewood Suites Charlotte, North Carolina. The five-year, interest-only facility was priced at 250 bps. over Libor.
SAN ANTONIO — Development is under way for San Antonio’s second Hotel Indigo, located at 830 N. St. Mary’s on the San Antonio Riverwalk. Construction will consist of the conversion of a former Hawthorne Suites. Amenities at the 149-suite hotel will include a fitness center, a 24-hour business center, two meeting rooms, an outdoor pool with a courtyard patio and wireless Internet access throughout the hotel. The hotel is owned by RW Hotel Associates, and will be managed by Trans Inns Management through a license agreement with Atlanta-based InterContinental Hotels Group. Kraemer Design Group is serving as project architect. Completion is scheduled for this fall.
SUISUN CITY, CALIF. — Basin Street Hospitality, a division of Petaluma, Calif.-based Basin Street Properties, has broken ground for the construction of a Hampton Inn & Suites hotel in Suisun City. Located at Harbor Center Drive, the hotel will feature 102 rooms, an outdoor pool and spa, meeting rooms, complimentary hot breakfast, complimentary high-speed Internet access, flat-screen televisions, and the Hampton 100 percent satisfaction guarantee. Completion is slated for summer 2009.
NEW YORK CITY — McSam Hotel Group has acquired 6 Water St. in Manhattan, New York City for $56 million. The 8,300-square-foot site fronts three streets and will allow for 125,000 buildable square feet. The buyer plans to develop a 30- to 40-story boutique hotel at the site, which is also known as 32-38 Pearl St. Peter Hauspurg, Alan Miller, Jeffrey Troy, David Johnson and Ronda Rogovin of Eastern Consolidated represented the seller, Water & Pearl Land LLC/Water & Pearl Partners LLC, and Miller and Johnson procured the buyer in the transaction.