The Shenzhen New World Group, a Chinese real estate developer, has bought the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Los Angeles for an estimated $90 million, according to published reports.
The 20-story, 451-room hotel was recently transformed through a $30 million renovation, according to John Strauss, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, which brokered the transaction.
The Sheraton Universal’s sale to Shenzhen represents the second local purchase for the developer, which bought the 469-room Los Angeles Marriott Downtown in 2011 for an estimated $60 million, reports the Los Angeles Times.
The Sheraton’s sale price represents a steep drop from the $122 million that previous owner Lowe Enterprises paid for the hotel at the top of the market in 2007, according to the Times. The report notes that Lowe lost control of the property after the recession hit the travel industry hard.
However, the recent purchase is seen as a vote of confidence in the fledgling recovery of the hospitality business in the United States.