NEW ORLEANS—Fresh off its initial raise and roll-up in December 2015, Provenance Hotels Partners Fund I (PHPF I) has announced its acquisition of the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery in New Orleans. The seller was a partnership primarily comprised of affiliates of GB Lodging, a hotel investment, development and asset management firm based in New York City, and Woodbine Development Corporation, a Dallas-based real estate company that focuses on hospitality investment, development, and asset management. PHPF I has entered into a long term management agreement with Provenance Hotels, a Portland, Ore. based national operator of award-winning lifestyle boutique hotels, to operate the property as part of its collection of hand-crafted independent hotels.
Provenance Hotels, GB Lodging, and Woodbine opened the 167-room Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery in New Orleans last year to national and international acclaim and it quickly became one of the city’s most sought-after hotels. Completed in August 2015, the hotel is home to the much-lauded Compère Lapin, helmed by Chef Nina Compton, and has established itself as a favorite of travelers to the Big Easy due to its striking design, authentically-gracious service and collaborations with local arts organizations.
“We are thrilled to have acquired an outstanding asset in a great long-term market,” said Gordon Sondland, Chairman of PHPF I. “I thank both GB and Woodbine for their invaluable contributions to the creation of the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery and congratulate them on a very successful transaction.”
“The Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery and Compère Lapin have already become part of the fabric of the New Orleans community and we are looking forward to continuing to build on that success and invest in the relationships we have forged in the region,” added Bashar Wali, president of Provenance Hotels.
“Our success in renovating and repositioning the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery wouldn’t have been possible without the partnership we enjoyed with the Woodbine and Provenance teams,” said Bruce Blum, president and co-founder of GB Lodging. “Through dedication to our shared vision and strategic deployment of capital renovating this asset, we were able to deliver a win for all involved.”
“Like our previous collaboration with Provenance on the Sentinel hotel in Portland, this investment was a home run,” added T. Dupree Scovell, managing director of Woodbine Development Corporation. “In this transaction, we had the added good fortune to get to work with GB Lodging and, together, execute on our value-added reposition strategy and structure an outcome benefiting all parties.”
Signing the Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery comes on the heels of Provenance Hotels’ announcement in March 2016 that it will open Hotel Theodore in Seattle in fall 2016. Provenance Hotels and its partner on the Hotel Theodore, NBP Capital of Portland, Ore., are also developing a hotel in their shared hometown. In addition, Provenance Hotels is developing a luxury beachfront hotel on the sand in Hermosa Beach, Calif. with Bolour and Associates of Beverly Hills.
