ATLANTA—The Iowa City Sheraton, formerly owned by RockBridge and managed by Davidson Hotels & Resorts for nearly 10 years, has been acquired by AJ Capital Partners. Davidson will be retained as the management company.
The nine-story, 234-room hotel will undergo an expansive renovation in 2018, culminating with a relaunch as the Graduate Iowa City by summer 2018. Renovations will touch all aspects of the property including more than 13,000 sq. ft. of meeting and event spaces, as a well as guestrooms, restaurants, pool and the lobby.
Additionally, Graduate Hotels will bring a creative, contemporary, locally driven F&B program. Upon conversion to a Graduate Hotel, the property will operate under Pivot Hotels & Resorts, Davidson's lifestyle and luxury operating division.
“AJ Capital has created one of the most exciting new concepts in lodging with Graduate Hotels. We have operated in over 10 university markets ourselves, so the combination of our experiences will be highly strategic as we grow together,” said John Belden, president and CEO of Davidson.
“It is with great pleasure that we announce the acquisition of the Sheraton Iowa City,” said Tim Franzen, president of Graduate Hotels. “This acquisition exemplifies our strategy of investing in ideally located assets in multi-dimensional university-anchored markets. We look forward to expanding our footprint within the Big Ten Conference with Graduate Iowa City's opening next year.”