AURORA, COLO. — Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc. (NYSE: RHP) has received a financing package totaling $880 million to refinance the construction and mezzanine loans for Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center in Aurora, just east of Denver. Wells Fargo both provided and arranged the loan.
Sitting on 85 acres, Gaylord Rockies features over 1,500 guest rooms including 114 suites and over 485,000 square feet of meeting and convention space. Amenities include eight restaurants, a spa/salon, multiple retail shops and a $25 million indoor/outdoor water park. Marriott International operates the resort, which opened in December 2018.
Ryman Hospitality is a publicly traded lodging REIT specializing in destination hotel assets in urban and resort markets. The original loans were scheduled to mature in December 2019. Although the owner of the property is a joint venture, with Ryman owning 61.2 percent of the property, the other owners were not disclosed.
The new loan consists of an $800 million term loan and an additional $80 million of borrowing capacity should the joint venture decide to pursue a future expansion. The new loan matures in July 2023 with three one-year extension options and bears an interest rate at LIBOR plus 2.5 percent. Simultaneously with the loan closing, the joint venture entered into an interest rate swap to fix the LIBOR portion of the interest rate at 1.65 percent for the first three years of the loan.
Any excess proceeds following the refinancing will be distributed to the ownership group. Ryman expects to receive $153 million, which it will use to repay part of its revolving credit facility.
Ryman Hospitality is based in Nashville and owns an 8,114-room resort portfolio, operated by Marriott under the Gaylord Hotels brand. In addition, the company owns several iconic Nashville entertainment venues and brands, such as Ryman Auditorium and the Grand Ole Opry. The company’s stock price opened at $80.79 per share on Friday, July 5, down from $84.25 one year ago.
— Jeff Shaw