Mesa West Capital provided $45.36 million in first mortgage debt to a joint venture of Reade Hotel Capital and an affiliate of Westport Capital Partners to acquire the 208-room Embassy Suites Nashville at Vanderbilt.
The hotel is located in the West End pocket of Nashville adjacent to Music Row and just west of Downtown. Given its location, just a few blocks east of Vanderbilt University’s campus and walking distance to the city’s Lower Broadway, noted for its music venues as well Bridgestone Arena, Music City Convention Center and Nashville Yards, the hotel has maintained a stabilized occupancy post-pandemic catering to both business and leisure travelers.
A portion of Mesa West’s financing will be used to fund a multimillion-dollar capital improvement program to the 11-story hotel, which has received minimal upgrades since it was last sold in 2015. The owners plan to complete a renovation of all guestrooms, corridors and common areas, as well as improve and increase meeting space to nearly 4,100-sq. ft. in order to capture a greater share of group and business travel. Additionally, future growth and demand drivers are expected to support the investment driven by significant projects such as MidCity Nashville, the new Nissan Stadium and the Oracle campus development.
According to the most recent data from The Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp., of the nearly 17 million people who visited Nashville in 2023, over one-third were business travelers.
“This was an opportunity to provide financing for a cash-flowing asset backed by an experienced sponsorship group, with sufficient capital allocated for necessary renovations—strategically positioning the property to take advantage of Nashville’s strong hospitality demand,” said Russell Frahm, executive director, Mesa West Capital, who led the origination team that included VP Brian Hahn and Associate Boyd Howard out of the private lender’s New York City office.
The financing was arranged by Rob Turner, Adam Licari and Auston Ingram of Eastdil Secured’s New York office.
