TAMPA, FL—Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. has closed the sale of an arranged acquisition financing for the Westin Tampa Harbour Island, a 299-room, full-service hotel located along the downtown waterfront here on Harbour Island.
HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller and completed the sale to affiliates of Walton Street Capital, which acquired the 100% fee-simple interest in the property, according to the company. HEI Hotels & Resorts will manage the property. Additionally, on behalf of the new owner, HFF placed the floating-rate acquisition loan with a banking and financial services holding company.
Opened in 1987, the centrally-located hotel features 299 guestrooms, which includes 19 suites. The property’s amenity package contains 17,432 sq. ft. of meeting space, a heated outdoor pool, WestinWorkout Fitness Studio and water views.
Located at 725 South Harbour Island Blvd., the hotel is proximate to transient and corporate demand generators, including the Amalie Arena, Florida Aquarium, historic Ybor City, the Channel District and numerous museums and sporting venues. The hotel is adjacent to the Tampa Convention Center and the planned $2-billion, six million-sq.-ft., mixed-use office, retail and multi-housing development being executed by Strategic Property Partners.
The HFF investment sales team representing the seller was led by senior managing director and head of HFF’s hotel group Daniel C. Peek and associate directors Preston Reid and Alexandra Lalos. Managing director Michael Weinberg led the HFF debt placement team representing the borrower.
“The Westin provides further evidence to the robust investor demand for hospitality assets in the Tampa Bay market,” Peek said. “Like several markets in the Southeastern U.S., Tampa’s economic expansion continues to be strong, perhaps best reflected in the performance of the region’s hotel sector over the past 24 months.”
“The Tampa hospitality market continues to attract high-quality institutional interest from groups like Walton Street Capital,” Reid added. “With relatively muted new supply, a robust convention calendar and marquis events such as the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship, on the horizon, the market shows little signs of slowing.”
“This is the third hotel financing we have arranged this year on trophy assets in downtown Tampa and downtown Orlando totaling nearly $175 million,” Weinberg stated. “The interest was strong from debt capital providers for all three despite the tightening of hospitality financing that is occurring nationally.”