Morgans Hotel acquisition: Shlomo Bakhash’s Kash Group, in partnership with Shel Capital, is in contract to acquire the Morgans Hotel, which it plans to convert into a micro-unit condominium. The deal is expected to close next month on the US$41 million purchase of the 17-story, 117-room New York City property.
Hilton stock activity: In an underwritten public offering last week, Blackstone sold 15 million shares of Hilton stock. At the same time, Hilton purchased an additional 1.5 million shares directly from Blackstone, who reduced its 15.3% ownership position to 10.3%. Hilton also disclosed that through June 6 it had repurchased approximately 4.2 million shares for approximately US$253 million (~$60/share) since March when the company commenced its stock repurchase program. Including the 1.5 million shares repurchased directly from Blackstone, Hilton will have completed approximately US$352 million of repurchase activity in less than four months.
Seattle hotel workers law upheld: A Seattle judge has upheld a hotels worker law designed to protect hotel workers against workplace injury and sexual harassment after a trio of hospitality industry associations, including the Seattle Hotel Association, sued the city over the law in December. The law includes other provisions such as a health care stipend for low-income workers and job protection if a hotel is sold to a new owner.
Adina development: Adina Apartment Hotels will open an A$125 million (US$94 million) 220-room hotel in a purpose-built timber tower above a six-story office in Melbourne’s Southbank. The unique cross-laminated timber and glass-clad structure is being developed by Hume Partners Property, the development arm of the wealthy Scanlon family.
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Paramount theme park: London Resort Company Holdings, the developers of a £3.2 billion (US$4.07 billion), Paramount theme park in Kent, signed an agreement with IHG to run a series of hotels at the resort.
Eagle Hills development: Eagle Hills will build its second 5-star hotel in Fujairah, a premium 162-room luxury hotel to be managed by Address Hotels + Resorts.
Yas Island goes forward: Hilton announced plans to partner with Miral to build a five-star resort on Yas Island. The 641-room Hilton Abu Dhabi Yas Island resort will be built as part of Miral’s US$3.3 billion development on the southern end of Yas Island and is due to open in 2019.
TripAdvisor Storyboard: TripAdvisor launched a new Storyboard feature, which aims to aid hotel owners and operators enhance their listing page. The feature replaces a hotel’s static primary photo with a presentation that combines the hotel’s best photos and top reviews. The new feature is available exclusively to Business Advantage Preferred Access subscribers.
Hyatt Regency Phoenix sells: The Hyatt Regency Phoenix sold for US$107 million. The buyer was an investor group led by Chicago-based Gem Realty. The seller was Los Angeles-based DiNapoli Capital Partners, which bought the hotel for US$96 million in 2008.
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Bellview Hotel: Additional details for the US$120 million redevelopment of the Bellview Hotel in the Cairns CBD have been revealed. New concept art reveals the hotel will consist of a large two and three-storey podium with asymmetric, lineal roofing, as well as two 46-metre high towers comprising 276 hotel rooms and six three-bedroom residential units over 10 levels.
Travelodge Thailand: Travelodge is expanding into Thailand with the openings of the 164-room Travelodge Pattaya in July and the 224-room Travelodge Sukhumvit 11, set to open by the fourth quarter of 2017.