Lane Hospitality, under the new ownership of investment firm AWH Partners for about one year, on Tuesday announced it has rebranded as Spire Hospitality, still based in Northbrook, Illinois.
Along with the new name comes a plan to aggressively grow its management business, which currently stands at 16 hotels – eight owned by AWH as it finalizes property acquisitions with the Lane family, which exited the business in 2012.
Spire President and CEO Bill DeForrest told HOTELS that AWH is working on another half-dozen deals that could net 15 to 18 new management contracts for the third-party manager. At the same time, DeForrest said Spire is in negotiations to acquire another three management deals separate from AWH negotiations.
“We can absorb additional assets with the platform we have today, but if growth accelerates significantly we will scale-up the platform to make sure we produce good results,” DeForrest said. “If we add eight to 10 assets this year we’d be fine; if it is more we will scale up as we will be careful to balance growth with performance.”
DeForrest added that while Lane Hospitality was very successful in secondary markets, the added expertise of AWH will help Spire grow more in primary markets.
While premium brands will continue to play a major role in the company’s expansion, DeForrest said he sees the independent space as an area to commit more resources, and he has hired John Price as the director of independent hotels. In fact, Spire and AWH are redeveloping the Boca Bridge Hotel in Boca Raton, Florida, which is expect to open around Thanksgiving as an independent affiliated with a major brand such as Marriott’s Autograph Collection.
DeForrest explained the new brand name ”signifies the peak of a building or process, and represents best-in-class and performance. Given the success of Lane Hospitality over the last 30 years, leadership felt the name, ‘Spire Hospitality,’ conveyed the right mix of the company’s legacy and future,” he said
In addition to announcing its re-branding, Spire has launched a new website, as well as relocated its headquarters in the Northern suburbs of Chicago to accommodate its ongoing growth and expansion.