MEMPHIS, TN— HOTEL BUSINESS® has learned Wright Investment Properties has closed on the acquisition of an downtown apartment building here, which it plans to convert to a Residence Inn by Marriott. According to Larry Wright Jr., vp/development, “We are going to spend almost $6 million on the renovation of the 90 keys and it should be completed in about 10 months. The building was built in 1930 and has an historic Art Deco exterior and lobby that we are going to maintain and improve on and will probably be the finest Residence Inn in the system of over 430 hotels. We are aggressively searching for more value-added deals of this nature.” The company currently manages 25 hotels in eight states and Washington, D.C. Wright said he would “like to grow our portfolio significantly over the next 12 months and forward. We see this growth occurring mostly through acquisitions, preferably turnaround opportunities, and third-party management contracts but would look at development opportunities and sliver equity investments where we could manage the hotel.”— Stefani C. O’Connor
