Transactions

Hotel & Motel Management, March 15, 2004 by John Walsh

Acquisitions

Apple Hospitality Five acquired a 140-room Hilton Garden Inn in Westbury, N.Y., from the Briad Group for $19 million.

CNL Hospitality Properties and Hilton Hotels Corp. formed a partnership to acquire the 544-room Capital Hilton in Washington and the 394-room Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines outside San Diego. The total investment made by the partnership was $212 million. CNL will own a majority interest in the partnership and will operate both properties. Previously, Hilton had 100-percent ownership of the hotels.

The Dow Hotel Co. and Prudential Real Estate Investors bought a 161-room Crowne Plaza in Lake Oswego, Ore., from an undisclosed seller for an undisclosed price. DHC manages the property, which will undergo a $1-million renovation.

MeriStar Hospitality Corp. sold seven hotels comprising 1,224 rooms to five undisclosed buyers for $31.5 million. The hotels are: a 200-room Radisson hotel in Schaumburg, Ill.; a 171-room Radisson property in Rochester, N.Y.; a 161-room Crowne Plaza hotel in Portland, Ore.; the 304-room Hotel Dallas, which was formerly a Radisson; a 170-room Holiday Inn in Calgary, Alberta; the 100-room Holiday Inn Metrotown in Vancouver, B.C.; and a 118-room Ramada Vancouver.

Pharos Group LLC of Park City, Utah, and The VEF Group of Lend Lease Real Estate Investments bought the 56-room Lodge and Spa at Cordillera in Vail, Colo., from Kensington Partners for an undisclosed amount.

On behalf of an undisclosed pension fund, Stone-Levy LLC purchased the 476-room Warner Marriott in Woodland Hills, Calif., from Westbrook Partners LLC for about $80 million. Concurrently, Tishman Hotel Co. was appointed manager of the property.

WestCoast Hospitality LP acquired a 172-room Red Lion hotel in Yakima, Wash., for $6.25 million. Previously, the limited partnership had controlled the property through an operating lease and exercised an option to buy the hotel.

Wyndham International sold a 266-room Doubletree hotel in Miami Lakes, Fla., to Garber Hotel Investments LLC; a 128-room Radisson in Akron, Ohio, to Akron Hospitality Group LLC, an affiliate of Parikh and Parikh Associates; and a 224-room Holiday Inn in San Francisco. Terms of the transactions weren't disclosed.

Openings

Extended Stay America opened a 104-room Extended StayAmerica Efficiency Studios in Fishkill, N.Y.

Gaylord Entertainment plans to open the 1,511-room Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center in Grapevine, Texas, April 2. The 1.3-million-square-foot property will feature 141 luxury suites and 400,000 square feet of meeting space.

Hilton International opened the 172-room Hilton Odawara Resort & Spa, which is 62 miles west of Tokyo in the foothills of the Hakone mountains.

This spring, Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group is scheduled to open the 122-room Onyx Hotel and Ruby Room in Boston. The hotel is the company's second property in Boston.

Leisure Hospitality opened the 75-room Best Western Aquarium Inn & Suites in Jenks, Okla.

Ocean Park Hotels Partners of Pacific Palisades, Calif., opened a 115-room Hampton Inn & Suites in Camarillo, Calif.

Management

Poydras Lodging Investors LP opened a 182-suite Staybridge Suites in New Orleans.

RIYA Cranbury LLC opened an 87-suite Staybridge Suites in Cranbury, N.J. The hotel is the brand's 74th property open.

Aimbridge Hospitality signed a management contract with Wyndham International to manage a 200-suite Summerfield Suites by Wyndham in Austin, Texas. The hotel was formerly the North Park Executive Suite Hotel.

Pfizer Pharmaceuticals selected Benchmark Hospitality of The Woodlands, Texas, to manage Pfizer's New York City Headquarters Campus conference center, which includes 150 meetings rooms totaling more than 35,000 square feet in four buildings.

The Generation Cos. recently assumed management of a 59-suite Candlewood Suites in Yorktown, Va. The company manages eight other Candlewood properties.

Interstate Hotels & Resorts was named to manage the 548-room Renaissance Hotel Las Vegas, which is owned by Jackson-Shaw Co., and the 157-unit Pantages Suites Hotel & Spa in Toronto that's owned by Skyline International Development Co. The Renaissance is expected to open during early 2005, and the Pantages was scheduled to open during February.

Marshall Management signed its first management contract in Europe. The company now operates the 43-room Park Hotel in Virginia County Cavan in Ireland. Baltimore International College owns the property.

Pineapple Management Services was awarded long-term management contracts for a Fairfield Inn by Marriott and a TownePlace Suites by Marriott in Jeffersonville, Ind.; a Fairfield Inn & Suites in Hopkinsville, Ky.; and a Fairfield Inn in Mount Sterling, Ky. Encore Enterprises, parent company of Pineapple, awarded the contracts.

Financing

Prime Hospitality Corp. assumed management of the 174-room Shoreham hotel in New York City. Ark Investment Partners LP owns the hotel.

West Paces Hotel Group, headed by Horst Schulze, former president and c.o.o. of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co., assumed management of L'Auberge de Sedona (Ariz.). The property features 33 cottages and a 21-room lodge.