MCR—a hotel owner-operator—has completed $2 billion of investments and deployed more than $500 million of equity since 2020. In the last 24 months, the company has acquired 46 select-service hotels, five full-service hotels, four non-performing loans and two hospitality-related software companies. These acquisitions bring the company’s portfolio to 145 hotels and nearly 25,000 rooms across 102 cities.
MCR completed 26 transactions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The team got creative with new investment structures and sourced opportunities in new asset classes, including buying:
- Hotels directly from developers and owner-operators with limited due diligence
- Real estate-owned hotels from special servicers
- Hotels out of bankruptcy
- Undervalued publicly traded equity securities
- Non-performing loans
- Hotels via public auctions on the steps of city hall
- Hospitality-related software companies such as StayNTouch and Optii
MCR’s size and scale allowed it to act quickly. For example, MCR closed on the 197-key Staybridge Suites Palm Springs in 14 days and the former Hotel Constance Pasadena in 30 days.
With properties in 37 states, MCR’s investments have focused on high-growth markets like Charlotte, NC; Nashville; Phoenix; Naples, FL; and Dallas and urban downtowns such as New York, Houston and Minneapolis. Among the Manhattan acquisitions: the 1,780-room Sheraton New York, the 168-room Royalton New York and the 725-room The Lexington Hotel, Autograph Collection.
MCR has leveraged its team of 6,000 operations professionals to expand its third-party management business to 20 properties. The company’s in-house creative team, which oversees design and marketing for all of MCR’s bespoke hotels, rebranded four independent hotels in the past 24 months, including strategic brand conversions such as the formerly independent 102-key Killington Mountain Lodge to a Hilton Tapestry Collection property.
MCR has realized seven investments in the last 24 months resulting in internal rate of returns (IRR) between 30% and 330%. As the travel industry rebounds from the pandemic, MCR plans to continue its accelerated transaction activity with five assets under construction, several additional software acquisitions and $1.8 billion in adaptive reuse development projects underway.
