NEW YORK—Carey Watermark Investors Incorporated (CWI) announced that it has acquired the Westin Minneapolis hotel. The full-service hotel includes 214 guestrooms and is located in downtown Minneapolis. The acquisition price was $66.4 million and was financed with $43.5 million of debt.
The Westin Minneapolis, originally constructed as the Farmers & Mechanics Bank building in 1942, is a uniquely designed high-rise hotel in the heart of Minneapolis. The former bank hall was re-purposed in 2007 as the hotel’s lobby and features 34-foot vaulted ceilings, a marble staircase, and wood-carved emblems signifying the leading industries of the World War II era. As part of the 2007 redevelopment, the adjoining office building was fully reconfigured to house the hotel’s guestrooms and 9,300 square feet of interior meeting space. The property features a full-service restaurant and bar, an indoor heated swimming pool, fitness studio, and a business center.
The hotel is centrally located in Minneapolis’ central business district, proximate to a number of primary demand generators including the Minneapolis Convention Center, Target Field, and Target Center, as well as major businesses including Wells Fargo, U.S. Bancorp, PwC, Ernst & Young, and Accenture. The property also maintains a link to the Minneapolis Skyway System, a climate controlled pedestrian walkway that connects the property to entertainment, retail, and office locations in the downtown area.
The Minneapolis market continues to be a solid Midwestern market with a significant corporate base, strong convention business, and a number of major downtown commercial, retail, and residential development projects in the pipeline. The Minneapolis-St. Paul lodging market experienced five years of consecutive RevPar growth, registering a 7.7% compound annual growth rate from 2009 through 2014.
The total $69.6 million investment includes the $66.4 million purchase price as well as $3.2 million of other acquisition-related costs and planned capital expenditures.
The hotel will continue to be managed by HEI Hotels & Resorts, a hospitality owner-operator that owns and manages 41 full-service, upper-upscale, luxury, and premium select-service hotels and resorts throughout the U.S.
