JV to acquire Sheraton in Tokyo: Sovereign wealth fund GIC will enter into a joint venture with Invincible Investment Corporation, a public hotel and residential J-REIT, to acquire Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay Hotel, adjacent to the Tokyo Disney Resort, for about 100 billion yen (US$889.16 million). GIC would own a 51% stake.
Read more in the Straits Times
Cambria in L.A.: The vacant Historic Core building in Los Angeles is being converted by PNK Group to a 180-room Cambria hotel. Designed by Nadel Architects, it will be completed in 2019. PNK’s management company, Oceans V, will operate.
Read more in the The Real Deal
Radisson Blu in Phu Quoc: Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group has a new contract with Phu Quoc Tourist Investment & Development J.S. to manage the Radisson Blu Resort Phu Quoc. It will reportedly include the first casino in Vietnam to permit domestic entry.
Read more in World Casino News
Settlement in Essex House slaying: The family of a real estate investor killed in 2009 by a housekeeping manager at the Jumeirah Essex House hotel in New York City agreed to a US$1.5 million settlement with the resort’s former owner and security firm. The manager was convicted and sentence to 23 years to life.
Deadly Russian hotel fire: A fire at Torn Hotel in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, killed two people, both employees of the 10-story property.
Global pipeline: According to Lodging Econometrics, the global construction pipeline is at 12,190 projects/2,029,231 rooms, up 8% by projects year over year. Under construction: 5,691 projects/1,048,457 rooms, up 9%; Scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months: 3,879 projects/557,958 rooms, up 14%; and projects in early planning are at 2,620 projects/422,816 rooms, down just 12 projects, less than 1%. The biggest franchise companies by project count are: Marriott International with 2,239; Hilton Worldwide with 1,996; IHG with 1,347; and Choice Hotels with 536.
Expedia ‘Collections’: Travel booking site Expedia has launched Collections, including six hotel categories that travelers search on, based on data tracking experience, customer review and value. The categories are beach, relaxation, family fun, culture and history, shopping and snow.
Cachet Hotel Group lawsuit: Alexander Mirza, former president and CEO of Cachet Hotel Group, filed suit in Los Angeles against Cachet claiming retaliation, religious discrimination and wrongful termination, among other charges. The suit stems from a dispute involving a business partner at the company.
CitizenM goes to Washington: A 252-room CitizenM is coming to Washington, D.C., as part of a larger development project that includes an apartment building. Developers ar E Street Development Group, a partnership including CityPartners and Potomac Investment Properties.
Lake Nona hotel: Tavistock Development is building a new hotel in the Lake Nona community of Orlando, Florida. An opening date for the 16-story tower Town Center hotel was not given.
Argentinian villas: Hospitality and real estate company Elandis acquired land on the Estancia de Cafayate residential and sporting estate in northwest Argentina and intends to add up to 10 residential villas to Elandis’ existing Grace Cafayate hotel and villas complex on the estate. It currently has 52 keys and 20 residential villas.
Canberra historic rebuild: Australia’s government sold the West Block buildings in Canberra’s Parliamentary Triangle for AUS$6.25 million (US$4.9 million), with new owners Geocon planning to turn the historic building into a luxury hotel.
Read more in the Canberra Times
AsiaPac, Europe up: According to STR, Asia Pacific hotels in August saw occupancy rise 3.3% year over year, along with an increase in ADR (2.3%) to US$99.98 and RevPAR up 5.7% to US$75.33. In Europe, occupancy rose 2.5% to 77.4%, ADR was up 5% to 115.66 euros (US$137.76), and RevPAR rose 7.6% to 90.26 euros (US$107.51).
Hamilton Hotel sold: EOS DCH Owner LLC acquired the Hamilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., for US$106.5 million from Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.