Selina opens, sign 8: Selina has celebrated the opening of eight new properties across the U.S. Greece, Australia, Portugal, Panama, Morocco and Israel in Q2 2022. During the same period, the company signed eight additional new properties in the U.S., Australia, Mexico, Greece, Portugal, Israel and Panama, a 17% rise from Q1 2021. The company also launched an enhanced app and a partnership with TechnoArt. Selina has also announced the appointment of Eyal Amzallag as CEO and Lena Katz as chief technology officer. With these new openings and signings, Selina has grown its portfolio to 163 open or secured properties in 25 countries and six continents.
RLJ Lodging Trust acquires in Nashville: RLJ Lodging Trust, Bethesda, Maryland, has acquired the fee simple interest in the 124-key 21c Museum Hotel Nashville for US$59 million (US$476,000 per key). The hotel was converted into a boutique lifestyle property in 2017 after the conversion of the historic Gray & Dudley Hardware Company Building in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. RLJ funded the purchase with existing cash on its balance sheet. Accor will continue to operate the boutique lifestyle hotel, which also offers a multi-venue contemporary art museum. The hotel is expected to generate 8% to 8.5% stabilized NOI yield and an accretive stabilized RevPAR nearly double that of RLJ’s portfolio. With this acquisition, RLJ now owns 96 hotels across 23 states. During the three months ended June, RLJ repurchased 4.2 million shares of common stock at US$11.93 per share or US$50 million, under its US$250 million share repurchase program.
Dallas leads US pipeline: With a record 173 projects, accounting for 20,707 rooms, Dallas led among the top five markets in the U.S. for the fourth consecutive quarter, according to Lodging Econometrics. The top 50 markets saw 151 projects/18,966 rooms open in the first half of the year.
Top 5 US pipeline markets:
Dallas: 173 projects; 20,707 rooms
Atlanta: 140 projects; 18,131 rooms
Los Angeles: 124 projects; 20,365 rooms
New York City: 113 projects; 19,238 rooms
Phoenix: 108 projects; 14,964 rooms
Top 5 markets, projects under construction:
New York City: 78 projects; 13,063 rooms
Atlanta: 25 projects; 3,905 rooms
Dallas: 25 projects; 3,725 rooms
Phoenix: 23 projects; 4,955 rooms
Los Angeles: 22 projects; 3,606 rooms
Most projects scheduled to start in next 12 months:
Atlanta: 62 projects; 8,020 rooms
Dallas: 55 projects; 6,465 rooms
Phoenix: 49 projects; 5,968 rooms
Houston: 45 projects; 4,619 rooms
Los Angeles: 43 projects; 6,715 rooms
Highest number of projects in early planning stage:
Dallas: 93 projects; 10,517 rooms
Los Angeles: 59 projects; 10,044 rooms
Atlanta: 53 projects; 6,206 rooms
Orlando: 44 projects; 7,640 rooms
Washington, D.C.: 40 projects; 5,659 rooms
New projects being announced:
Dallas: 16 projects; 1,654 rooms
Atlanta: 11 projects; 1,206 rooms
Inland Empire, California: 11 projects; 1,113 rooms
Houston: nine projects; 929 rooms
Charlotte: nine projects; 916 rooms
Hotel Equities adds to management portfolio: Hotel Equities, Alpharetta, Georgia, has assumed management of the Sawridge Inn and Conference Center at Edmonton South, Alberta in Canada. Owned by 2430776 Alberta Ltd., the 136-key hotel features over 9,000 square feet of event space for up to 200 people.