The DJIA rose 383 points, Nasdaq was up 45, the S&P 500 rose 35 points and the 10-year treasury yield was up .09 to 3.48%. Lodging stocks were mostly higher but the biggest movers were to the downside. The newly minted penny stocks, VCSA and SOND, both traded down to new lows, dropping another -4% and -7% respectively. SLNA hit a new low, down another -7%. Outside of the new age names, AINC traded down -9% to a new low but on just over 5,000 shares traded. AHT was down -5% on the day.
Midtown Redevelopment Partners LLC submitted a conditional use permit request for both hotel use and additional height, from 60 feet to 75 feet, for a 155-room AC Hotels by Marriott in Blacksburg, Virginia. Earlier this year, the developer successfully obtained town council approval for a conditional use permit allowing the maximum height of a planned Embassy Suites hotel to be raised to 73 feet.
A 100-room extended-stay hotel is slated for the Ferry Wharf development in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. The Marriott-flagged property will be operated as the Residence Inn at Patriots Point, according to plans filed by Bennett Hospitality. The hotel will be equipped with typical guest amenities, such as a pool, fitness center, bar and patio area.
Red Roof will open 50 properties, new builds and conversions, in 2023, representing 60% year-on-year growth. New Red Roof PLUS+ properties will be in cities including Brooklyn, NY; Jamaica, NY; Virginia Beach, VA; San Antonio, TX; and Belleville, MI. Five additional locations are expected to open in 2024. In the last two years, Red Roof opened 11 HomeTowne Studios properties, with ten additional openings expected in 2023. As the Red Roof brand draws closer to 700 properties systemwide, the company is also launching a new dual-branded prototype, offering franchisees an additional Red Roof option: Red Roof Inn and HomeTowne Studios, on the same property. The dual-branded prototype, featuring 150 rooms, a centralized reservation system and shared labor provides operational efficiencies and positions the properties well for profitable growth.
Pebblebrook Hotel Trust closed on the sale of 909 North Michigan Avenue, a 3-tenant fully occupied retail parcel, adjacent to the Company’s Westin Michigan Avenue, Chicago for $27.3 million to a third party.
Highgate and Flynn Properties announced the acquisition of The Huntington Hotel, located in the Nob Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Together, Highgate and Flynn Properties intend to restore and elevate every aspect of The Huntington Hotel, returning it to its original glory. In addition to a comprehensive renovation of its public areas and guest rooms, the Big 4 Restaurant will undergo upgrades and the Nob Hill Spa will be renovated, offering the latest treatments and amenities available in the industry. The Huntington Hotel is expected to reopen in 2025. Mercury News had reported that the property defaulted on a $56.2 million loan from Deutsche Bank in August.
The Allentown, Pennsylvania Planning Commission recommended approval of a land development plan for a select-service, boutique hotel. The proposal offered by City Center Investment Corp. calls for the demolition of the properties at 949-959 Hamilton Street to build a five-story, 140-room hotel with restaurant and tavern space. City Center will hire a third party to manage the property but will retain ownership.
In Quintana Roo, Mexico, adults can enjoy an adults-only experience at the Hard Rock Riviera Maya, with its new Heaven 2.0 adults-only concept. Hard Rock’s Heaven 2.0 area of the resort offers several different room and suite categories; the Eden Pool, with full-service cabana rentals, a swim-up bar and daily entertainment; and the resort’s secluded beach, as well as all of the excursions and tours the ocean has to offer. Located within the Heaven concept at Hard Rock Riviera May is the Rock Spa with 75 treatment rooms and steam rooms, hydrotherapy pools, a personal spa butler and Yoga Temple.
Construction continues on Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa as it undergoes a long refurbishment. Presently, construction is focused on the Sago Cay building near the walkway connecting the resort to Magic Kingdom, as well as on Narcoosee’s, which will reopen on April 1, 2023, with an updated menu.
Ashford Inc. announced that RED Hospitality & Leisure, LLC has acquired privately-held Alii Nui and Maui Dive Shop, Maui’s premier luxury catamaran and diving operations. RED intends to expand the Alii Nui fleet in 2023 with an additional vessel. The transaction also expands RED’s geographic footprint into the premier Maui market and geographically diversifies its revenue stream.
The Greater Las Vegas Short-Term Rental Association wants the Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of short-term rental regulations in Clark County, Nevada. The association has been fighting a county ordinance to license, regulate and enforce violations of short-term rentals through a lawsuit filed in August. Last month, a District Court judge issued a preliminary injunction finding that portions of the ordinance are unconstitutional. Although the preliminary injunction was granted in the rental association’s favor, the group appealed to the Supreme Court this week because, according to the association, District Judge Jessica Peterson did not address the entirety of its claims. The association is particularly concerned with the ordinance’s lottery system to choose license recipients and distance requirements between short-term rentals and hotels. The sections of the ordinance that Peterson declared unconstitutional include signing the business license application under penalty of perjury, inspections on rental properties with little or no notice, vague definitions of what is considered a “party” or disturbance, and the issuance of “discretionary fines and penalties.” The injunction did not prevent Clark County from issuing licenses through a six-month application process that ended on Monday.
AD1 Global Hotels LLC is offering a 1,210-key portfolio of seven Florida hotels through a Section 363 Sale. The properties include new and recently-constructed hotels currently flagged with Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and IHG brands and located in Orlando, Melbourne, West Palm Beach, and Daytona Beach. RobertDouglas and Berkadia are co-advising AD1 Global on the transaction. The Orlando and Melbourne properties will be auctioned on May 9, Palm Beach on July 12, and Daytona on August 4.
Hotel Equities and National Hospitality Services have formed a strategic alliance. The NHS portfolio of 38 hotels will integrate into HE’s management platform creating strategic growth opportunities for associates and optimizing systems to create a more dynamic and powerful operations and sales engine. The alliance leverages efficiencies and resources to drive elevated performance across the combined portfolio of approximately 300 hotels and resorts throughout the United States and Canada.
Hotel industry consultant Bruce Baltin passed away earlier this month at the age of 79. Baltin was a founding shareholder in the PKF Consulting practice in 1992, serving as managing director of the Los Angeles office until 2014 when it was sold to CBRE Hotels. He stayed on in the Los Angeles office until 2020 when he launched his own practice. He returned to PKF as a director in the US office in 2022.
Personnel Moves
Selina Hospitality PLC announced the appointment of Alan Bowers as the newest independent director on its Board of Directors, effective March 17, 2023. In addition, as part of Selina’s commitment to corporate governance, the Board has established a Finance and Capital Allocation Committee to help oversee budgeting, capital allocation and significant transactions. Catherine Dunleavy, who has stepped down as chair of, but remains a member of, the Audit Committee was appointed as chair of the new committee. Mr. Bowers has been appointed as the chair of the Audit Committee and a member of the new Finance and Capital Allocation Committee. With the addition of Mr. Bowers, Selina’s Board is now comprised of six independent directors and two executive directors.
Europe Highlights
Having sold out most of the units in the residential projects launched in Singapore last year, UOL Group hopes to repeat that feat at its flagship Pan Pacific Hotel-branded residences, The Sky Residences, in London’s One Bishopsgate Plaza. The Sky Residences has just 160 exclusive private residences traversing floors 21-41 floors of a 42-story skyscraper. While the Sky Residences occupies the top half of the tower at One Bishopsgate Plaza, the 237-room Pan Pacific London hotel sits on the bottom half, spanning from the basement to the nineteenth floor.