MINNEAPOLIS – An affiliate of Hyatt Hotels Corp. has acquired the Comfort Suites in downtown Minneapolis and will rebrand the hotel as Hyatt Place Minneapolis Downtown by mid-2013, following $20 million in capital improvements.
The upscale Hyatt Place brand, launched six years ago, includes guestrooms that include sofa sleepers, ergonomic work centers, media centers with 42-inch high definition televisions and complimentary Wi-Fi access. This property will be the fourth Hyatt-branded hotel in the Minneapolis area. The hotel is also walking distance to the city’s historic Hennepin Theater District and is near the various sports venues downtown.
Summit Hotel Properties Inc. plans to purchase the hotel and enter into a management agreement with a Hyatt affiliate upon completion of the improvements. Summit is a self-advised real estate investment trust focused on acquiring and owning premium-branded select-service hotels in the upscale and upper midscale segments. Summit’s hotel portfolio consists of 81 hotels with a total of 8,576 guestrooms located in 21 states.
“Recycling capital to allow continued strategic growth is core to our business approach and this transaction is the perfect example of how we are executing that in an effort to help Hyatt, as well as owners, achieve that growth,” said Stephen Haggerty, Hyatt’s global head of Real Estate and Capital Strategy. “Summit was one of the first companies to recognize the potential of the Hyatt Place brand and we are excited to have identified new opportunities for us to grow the brand and our relationship with such a valued company.”
In early October, a Summit affiliate also closed on the acquisition of seven Hyatt Place hotels and one Hyatt House hotel, and the company entered into an agreement with a Hyatt affiliate to manage these eight Hyatt Place- and Hyatt House-branded hotels.
“Hyatt has invested an impressive amount of its own capital in the Hyatt Place brand, which gives Hyatt a level of credibility with owners not typical in the industry,” said Dan Hansen, president and chief executive officer of Summit.