Baillie Lodges acquires Tierra Hotels: Baillie Lodges, the Australia-based boutique ultra-luxury hotel platform, has acquired a majority share in Tierra Hotels, Santiago, Chile. Following the acquisition, Baillie will own and operate 10 lodges across several destinations. Tierra’s collection also includes three luxury lodges in Chile — Tierra Patagonia, Tierra Atacama and Tierra Chiloé. The acquisition grows Baillie’s current portfolio of properties in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Tierra’s portfolio includes experiential luxury lodges in three of South America’s destinations. The partnership officially started on August 27, following a long-term collaboration between the Baillie team and Miguel Purcell, founder of Tierra Hotels. The Purcell family, which has operated and developed Tierra Hotels since 2008, will retain an ownership stake in the portfolio, and the three properties will retain the Tierra branding. Baillie Lodges will invest in the Tierra properties in Chile and plans to grow Tierra’s hotel platform through acquisitions and new greenfield developments.
Global construction pipeline rises: With 14,117 projects/2,293,131 rooms, the total global construction pipeline increased 5% by projects and 2% by rooms YOY, according to Lodging Econometrics. At the end of the second quarter, there are 6,074 projects/1,110,174 rooms currently under construction, with projects expected to begin construction in the next 12 months up 1% by projects YOY and unchanged by rooms to stand at 3,664 projects/525,096 rooms. Projects in early planning touched record-high project and room counts of 4,379 projects/657,861 rooms, up 22% by projects and 13% by rooms YOY. Conversions reached new highs, with 1,672 projects/206,355 rooms. A total of 803 new hotels/121,029 rooms opened globally in the first half of the year, with an additional 1,653 hotels/244,956 rooms slated to open by the end of the year.
Top 5 countries leading by project count:
U.S. – 5,220 projects/621,268 rooms
China – 3,693 projects/701,974 rooms
India – 339 projects/42,548 rooms
U.K. – 309 projects/46,296 rooms
Indonesia – 284 projects/45,359 rooms
Top 5 markets with the biggest pipelines (by project count):
Dallas, Texas – 173 projects/20,707 rooms
Chengdu, China – 141 projects/28,573 rooms
Atlanta, Georgia – 140 projects/18,131 rooms
Shanghai, China – 128 projects/25,200 rooms
Los Angeles, California – 124 projects/20,365 rooms
Top 4 franchise companies leading global construction pipeline:
Hilton Worldwide – 2,596 projects/379,818 rooms
Marriott International – 2,533 projects/421,613 rooms
InterContinental Hotels Group – 1,687 projects/247,310 rooms
Accor – 894 projects/155,577 rooms
Chateau Marmont workers vote to unionize: Workers at the Chateau Marmont hotel in Los Angeles, California have voted to unionize. In a majority vote last week, the hotel’s maintenance employees, housekeepers, bellhops and other workers voted to join Unite Here Local 11. The hotel supported the move and acknowledged the results after a neutral arbitrator validated the results. Nearly 200 employees of the hotel lost their jobs and, as a result, their healthcare coverage during the pandemic in 2020. These employees got together soon after the layoffs to help pass a “right of recall” ordinance in Los Angeles, which mandates employers to make a written offer of employment to laid-off workers for a qualifying, available position after the effective date of the ordinance. Long Beach, Pasadena, Glendale, Los Angeles County, Santa Monica and California as a whole have passed similar right-of-recall laws.
Manhattan lodging outlook: Manhattan reported sustained increases in occupancy, ADR and RevPAR in the first half of the year, with Q2 RevPAR seeing a 166.8% YOY rise, revealed the Manhattan Lodging Index: Q2 2022 by PwC. The strongest gains in RevPAR were recorded in April, which saw a YOY jump of 220.4%. Q1 RevPAR also soared 135.7% from the same period in 2021. RevPAR surged 166% YOY in the second quarter, while occupancy and ADR increased as both group and summer leisure travel began to re-emerge and travel restrictions eased. April witnessed the highest YOY increases in April, up 70.3%. Overall occupancy for the quarter stood at 81.3% and ADR was US$314.54. Manhattan’s RevPAR more than doubled to US$255.61 in Q2 2022 from US$95.81 in Q2 202. The upper upscale properties posted the most significant YOY RevPAR increase, up 201.5% in Q2 driven by a surge of 84.3% in occupancy to 79.5% (from 43.1% in 2021) and a 63.6% rise in ADR to US$302.8 (from US$185.13). Among the five Manhattan neighborhoods, Midtown East saw the largest increase in RevPAR – up 234.4%, boosted mostly by a 92.4% surge in occupancy YOY. Midtown West RevPAR grew by 193%, significantly driven by an 82.6% increase in ADR. Among the independent and chain-affiliated hotels, RevPAR grew by 180.9% and 144.3%, respectively.
Stamford Land sells Sydney hotel: Stamford Land, Singapore, has agreed to sell the 10-story Sir Stamford at Circular Quay hotel in Sydney to a Vietnamese-backed developer and fund manager for AU$210.5 million (US$144.98 million). The new owner, JDH Capital, plans to invest around AU$380 million (US$261.73 million) to redevelop the 105-room hotel into luxury apartments. Looking to sell its Australian hotel portfolio, Stamford Land said it would be booking a US$80 million (US$57.33 million) gain on the hotel’s sale. Stamford Land, which owns five more hotels in Australia and another in New Zealand, marketed the properties last year and had started receiving approvals to redevelop Sir Stamford as apartments. The transaction was brokered by JLL.
Legendary Capital acquires interest in El Paso Hilton: Legendary Capital, Fargo, North Dakota, has sponsored the acquisition of an interest in a partnership that owns the 153-key Hilton Garden Inn El Paso University in El Paso, Texas. With the deal, the sponsored entity has now become a minority partner in the hotel’s ownership. The hotel, which opened in 2006, is the only one on the UTEP campus.
North Central Group launches new identity: North Central Group, Middleton, Wisconsin, has unveiled a new company name and logo which will showcase their expertise in real estate, development, hotels, asset management and more. Renamed NCG Hospitality, the new identity of the family-owned business will focus on the complete spectrum of hospitality development, management and operations. The company currently owns and operates over 30 properties in several states and national brands.