Provenance Hotels and affiliates of Gencom, a global investment and development firm, have formed a special-purpose hospitality venture, GenPro. As part of the venture, Provenance will contribute various hotels it owns throughout the U.S., along with cash, and the Gencom affiliate will contribute cash. Jointly led by Gordon Sondland, Provenance’s founder/chairman, and Gencom founder Karim Alibhai, the venture will seek to expand through future acquisitions and/or redevelopment opportunities.
GenPro’s hotel assets will be managed by Benchmark Pyramid. Alibhai currently sits on the board of Benchmark Pyramid, and Sondland will also join the board upon the close of Benchmark Pyramid’s acquisition of Provenance, which is expected in the second quarter.
“We are excited to team up with Gencom and its affiliates, one of the nation’s leading hospitality investment and development firms, to launch a large and growing hotel real estate venture, GenPro,” Sondland said. “The Gencom team brings an entrepreneurial approach and attention to detail and has long been known for its work in the hospitality sector both in management platforms and ownership of hotels across all brands. With my nearly four decades of experience in the hotel industry and the friendships I developed during my tenure as U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, I look forward to sourcing opportunities for GenPro to grow both domestically and internationally.”
Alibhai said, “We are thrilled to launch GenPro with Gordon and his team, and we look forward to growing an attractive portfolio of properties through compelling organic and inorganic opportunities. We remain bullish on market trends in hospitality and are confident that GenPro will deliver long-term value to its stakeholders.”
GenPro’s initial portfolio of properties includes Hotel Max in Seattle; Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery in New Orleans; Hotel Preston in Nashville; Hotel Murano in Tacoma, WA; and four downtown Portland, OR, hotels: Hotel Deluxe, Sentinel, Hotel Lucia (pictured above) and Dossier.
