Henley, Ashford and AWH Partners Complete Hotel Transactions

NATIONAL REPORT—Hotels across the country are changing hands. Here’s a review of recent hotel transactions:

Henley Investments Acquires Miami Hotel

Henley Investments, a private equity real estate firm based in the U.K. and the U.S., has acquired the Lord Balfour Hotel, its fourth boutique hotel in Miami in partnership with Life House, the venture-backed, technology-enabled hotel management company.

The largest U.S. hotel acquisition to-date by Henley with a total project capitalization in excess of $40 million (including acquisition and renovation cost), this deal signals Life House’s expansion into managing bigger hotels.

Life House will initially operate the hotel leveraging its white-label platform, maintaining the property’s historic branding as the Lord Balfour Hotel, before executing a comprehensive renovation that will see the hotel rebranded as Life House Ocean Drive alongside timeless updates to all rooms suites, and public spaces, as well as the build-out of a fitness center and yoga studio.

Life House Ocean Drive will join Henley’s current line of lifestyle hotels in Miami, including 33-key Life House Little Havana on 9thAve., 26-key Life House South Beach on Collins Ave. and 50-key Life House Mid Beach on Park Ave.

Ashford Trust Sells Two Hotels for $37.8M

Ashford Hospitality Trust Inc. has sold the 156-room Courtyard Savannah Downtown in Savannah, GA, and the 128-room Hilton Garden Inn in Wisconsin Dells, WI for $37.8 million.

The hotels had existing allocated loan balances of approximately $32.8 million that were paid off at closing along with an additional $3.8 million of loan pay down associated with the release of the Courtyard Savannah from its loan pool. Approximately all of the net proceeds from the sales were used to pay down debt. Based upon the 12-month period ended June 30, the Courtyard Savannah achieved an occupancy rate of 80% and ADR of $132, resulting in a $106 RevPAR. Based upon the 12-month period ended June 30, the Hilton Garden Inn Wisconsin Dells achieved an occupancy rate of 65% and ADR of $116 resulting in a $75 RevPAR.

AWH Partners Purchases DoubleTree by Hilton Albuquerque

AWH Partners LLC, a privately held real estate investment, development and management firm, has acquired the DoubleTree by Hilton Albuquerque, marking more than a dozen Hiltons and over 1,500 DoubleTree keys acquired across the United States—and the first hotel purchased in the New Mexico market—for the firm.

Located in Albuquerque’s Central Business District, the newly-renovated DoubleTree is the only hotel directly connected to the 300,000-sq.-ft. Albuquerque Convention Center.

Spire Hospitality, AWH’s full-service hospitality management company, is now managing the 295-room DoubleTree Albuquerque and will begin implementing core strategies, leveraging the ownership and management companies’ breadth of experience with the brand to grow operating revenues and profit margins.