AUSTIN, TEXAS — Host Hotels & Resorts Inc. (NASDAQ: HST) has acquired the fee simple interest in the 448-room Hyatt Regency Austin for approximately $161 million in cash. The purchase price represents a capitalization rate of 10 percent and a 20 to 25 percent discount to pre-COVID pricing, according to HST.
Hyatt will continue to manage the hotel under a long-term agreement. The seller was undisclosed.
Situated on nearly six acres along Lady Bird Lake, the waterfront property is located near the city’s South Congress District and Zilker Park.
The hotel’s rooms were renovated in 2015 and its meeting space was expanded in 2018. The property features 45,000 square feet of meeting space, including two ballrooms. There are also two food and beverage outlets as well as an outdoor pool and a fitness center.
“As travel resumes, we expect the well-located Hyatt Regency Austin to benefit from a strong rebound led by Austin’s multiple leisure and business demand drivers that are anchored in world-renowned music festivals, sporting events and blue-chip corporations,” says James Risoleo, president and CEO of HST. “Additionally, we are encouraged by the reported contraction in Austin’s hotel construction pipeline relative to pre-pandemic levels and by the market’s significantly lower hotel operating costs compared with other markets.”
In 2019, the average occupancy rate for the Hyatt Regency Austin was 85.7 percent, according to HST. The hotel’s revenue per available room (RevPAR) grew from $155.78 in 2015 to $188.55 in 2019.
Bethesda, Md.-based HST owns 76 properties in the United States and five properties internationally totaling 46,800 rooms. The company’s stock price opened at $17.75 per share Wednesday, March 17, up from $10.07 per share one year ago.
— Kristin Hiller