The 600-room Hotel Carter in the Times Square area of New York City recently sold for more than $190 million, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
Real estate investor Joseph Chetrit purchased the hotel from a company controlled by the heirs of Vietnamese businessman Tran Dinh Truong, who bought the property in 1977.
According to the report, the hotel drew nearly two dozen bidders, including CIM Group, developer Aby Rosen and Highgate Hotels.
Hotels in the United States and Canada showed increases in operating performance for the week ending 30 August, according to data from STR, the parent company of HNN.
U.S.: In year-over-year measurements, the industry’s occupancy rose 3.8% to 66.5%. Average daily rate increased 5.4% to finish the week at $114.49. Revenue per available room for the week was up 9.4% to finish at $76.09.
Canada: In year-over-year comparisons, occupancy increased 4.2% to 79.3%; ADR was up 5.2% to 143.22 Canadian dollars ($132.08); and RevPAR increased 9.7% to CA$113.61 ($104.76).
In the second quarter, eight of 12 cities in the United Kingdom analyzed by Zolfo Cooper reported RevPAR levels above pre-recession marks. Markets that have exceeded previous peaks include London, Bath, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Manchester, Glasgow, Leeds and Cardiff.
Across the U.K., RevPARs increased 10% during the quarter, led by Belfast, Leeds and Glasgow with RevPAR growth of 26%, 16% and 12% respectively. London achieved 4% growth.
The advisory firm said 50% of the active hotel development pipeline in the U.K. is in the budget sector. While 3-star hotels make up 30% of the supply, 3% of the active pipeline is in that category.
Mexican real estate investment trust Fibra Inn purchased six hotels in the country comprising 667 rooms under two brands: Casa Grande and Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham, the company said in a news release.
Fibra paid 431.8 million Mexican pesos ($32.9 million) for the portfolio, plus 48.8 million Mexican pesos ($3.7 million) for taxes and acquisition-related expenses. The seller was not named.
Following the acquisition, Fibra has 29 hotels open comprising 4,512 rooms, plus three properties with 799 rooms under development.
Record occupancy projections for 2015 are giving operators the confidence to push rate, writes HNN’s Patrick Mayock. PKF Hospitality Research on Wednesday released its updated forecast, which called for a 2015 year-end occupancy of 65%—a record for the industry, according to historical data from STR. The previous high was 64.8% in 1995, according to STR.
“Demand is continuing to outperform even our strong estimate of demand this year. … Our model is reacting to that,” said Jamie Lane, senior economist at PKF-HR.
Compiled by Ed Watkins.