Miller Global Properties Finalizes Deal For NY’s Algonquin Hotel

NEW YORK— Miller Global Properties, LLC of Denver closed on the acquisition of the famed Algonquin Hotel. “The deal is finalized. All the documents are signed. And the moneys being wired today,” President Jim Miller told HOTEL BUSINESS®. The company, which Miller described as a partnership with investment funds, finalized the Algonquin deal today from Olympus Real Estate Partners, making sure its new management company— Denver-based Destination Hotels & Resorts— was already in place and set to go as soon as the documents were inked. Miller Global also simultaneously closed the loan it obtained from HSBC Bank that helped the firm make the buy. The company used the HSBC funding, along with its “Miller Global Fund IV” to purchase the hotel. According to Miller, the deal was several months in the making, with both parties “coming to a mutually agreeable contract” after some intensive negotiations that started “in late January, the early part of February.” Miller Global had been tracking the property, and contacted Olympus at the tail end of last year. When asked what the final purchase price was for the historic Algonquin— which included the land— Miller declined comment, noting that, “We do not disclose financials.” However, reportedly last year the hotel was poised to fetch as much as $48 million from local New York hotelier Bernard Goldberg, before the events of 9/11 derailed that deal. This acquisition marks the third hotel in the companys Fund IV portfolio, as well as its overall ownership portfolio, which currently includes “in excess of 50 office buildings,” explained Miller. Miller Global is also developing a 240-room Residence Inn by Marriott in Alexandria, VA that Miller expects to open this December. Plus, the company owns the Radisson SAS hotel in Amsterdam, The Netherlands at the Sciphal Airport. “We are looking to make a big push into the hotel arena,” explained Miller. “We are closing out Fund IV, and our Europe I fund.” While the company has done some developing, Miller feels that the better bet lies with acquisitions. “Were expecting some good acquisition opportunities in the continental U.S. and Europe. So we expect to have a very large hotel component.” To that end, Miller Global is eyeing several deals that it is either pursuing— a la the Algonquin deal— or has come to its attention. The company hopes “in a year to have made several one-off hotel transactions or acquisitions, and have done a larger portfolio-type acquisition,” noted Miller. “Certainly, in three to five years, we hope to have a sizable, attractive and profitable portfolio.”