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BREAKING: Developer Plans Atlanta's 1st 'Airbnb Hotel'

By Tony Wilbert, CoStar News (For full story on CoStar.com, click here.)

Airbnb's expansion into the hotel business has prompted plans for Atlanta's first boutique lodging geared solely toward travelers who book short stays online.


RCC, LLC of Atlanta has filed plans to develop a nine-story, boutique hotel with 98-110 keys in Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward. The hotel would be designed specifically to attract Airbnb users. RCC's representative John Schiavone heads Catholic Construction Services, and as such, is the director of real estate for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta. It is unclear exactly what role the Catholic Church would play in the planned development.

For full story on CoStar.com, click here.

Buckhead Institution #OKCafe Expected to Reopen When?!?!...

August 1st? Click here for the latest...

UPDATE (Feb. 23, 2015) - The day regulars and fans of OK Cafe are looking for now appears to be Monday, June 1. That's the day the popular Buckhead restaurant plans to reopen after a fire late last year did extensive damage.

Staff will return to work in mid-May to prepare OK Cafe for its reopening. Come back for future updates.

ATLANTA (Dec. 22, 2014) - Looks like OK Cafe regulars will have to way until May to get a table at their favorite Buckhead breakfast (and more) spot.

OK Cafe workers were told this morning that the restaurant, closed since a fire caused extensive damage on Dec. 7, isn't expected to reopen until May. Restaurant managers and owners let employees know their jobs will be waiting for them, even if they pick up some temporary work. (Photo courtesy of ajc.com.)

This rainy Monday wasn't totally dreary for the staff, though. They received a payment from the Christmas Fund for OK Cafe Staff set up by Cousins Properties EVP John McColl and his son John McColl Jr.

This morning, John Jr. sent this messages to those who gave to the fund via crowdrise.

"All-
This morning we successfully distributed the donated funds, along with a personal thank you card to OK Cafe management. Without your generous donations this would not have been possible so thank you. The overwhelming success of the fund will help each employee be able to celebrate Christmas the right way. Again thank you for your contributions.

As employees arrived at OK Cafe to pick up their portion of the fund, several hugged in the parking lot and talked about the day the restaurant at West Paces Ferry Road and Northside Parkway reopens.

Can't wait for that day this spring.

Dart Realty’s Kimpton Resort Development Reaches Building and Safety Milestones

Construction of Dart Realty's Kimpton Resort in Grand Cayman is progressing nicely, and the $200 million development is on target to open in late 2016.

Dart just released an update on construction of the resort property that's rising on Seven Mile Beach adajcent to Public Beach and near Duke's Seafood & Rib Shack (a personal favorite). The Kimpton resort is about 5 minutes from the Town of Camana Bay, Dart's landmark mixed-use community that stretches from Seven Mile Beach to the North Sound.

In July 2013, The Wall Street Journal heralded Dart's plans for the new resort as a sign of new confidence in the Caribbean's hospitality and real estate markets. Since the start of construction, several developers have announced plans for new resports across the Caribbean, but Dart's foresight has positioned its Kimpton report well ahead of the curve.

Click here to read the official update from Dart Realty, a long-time client of The Wilbert Group.

- Tony Wilbert

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Grand Cayman’s first new resort in a decade on schedule for a late 2016 opening

Cayman Islands, GRAND CAYMAN (December 15, 2014) – With four tower cranes on the horizon and more than 275 workers on site, the Kimpton property being developed on Seven Mile Beach by Dart Realty (Cayman) Ltd. is coming up quickly. More than $62 million of the $240 million construction project is “in the ground” while five levels of the hotel structure are complete, taking it to the halfway mark.

On 12 December the construction management team from DECCO and the contractors on the job recognized the workers’ achievement of more than 200,000 consecutive safe working hours without any lost time incidents. They were joined by crews from Dart Realty’s 18 Forum Lane site for a celebratory lunch. In November crews at the Kimpton project logged 53,000 hours, the equivalent of 247 full time positions. The project’s workforce has been comprised of an average of 53% Caymanians and Permanent Residents since site preparation began in 2012.

“We have momentum on site with more than 30 local contractors, sub-contractors and service companies,” said Gary Gibbs, Executive Manager of DECCO, Dart Realty’s construction management company. “When activity peaks, they will employ more than 800 people on the job.”

Construction is steadily rising up from the foundations of the 266 room resort. The hotel structure is complete up to the 5th floor, and a separate residential building that will include 62 condominiums is complete up to the 4th floor. These growing silhouettes emphasize the carefully considered space planning on the deep 11-acre site which has 475 feet of frontage along Seven Mile Beach. The main hotel building is perpendicular to the beach with the westernmost rooms situated 240 feet from the high water mark while the condominium building is nearly 500 feet back. This setback, along with stunning lobby views of the Caribbean Sea and abundant open spaces connecting the resort amenities to the public multi-use trail that will cross the property, differentiates the resort from existing Seven Mile Beach developments. Also unique to the Kimpton property are six beachfront bungalows which will be the premium accommodations offering both the “toes in the sand” experience of a hideaway resort and the full amenities of a boutique hotel.

Atlanta Developer Poised to Open New Savannah Hotel in April 2015

SAVANNAH, Ga. (Oct. 8, 2014) - Savannah's newest Historic District hotel is on track to open in the spring, though it won't be open in time for the massive 2015 St. Patrick's Day festivities.

Homewood Suites Savannah Historic District/Riverfront will open in April 2015, according to Hilton's online reservation system. The 162-key hotel is rising between the eastern edge of Bay Street and the Savannah River.

Buckhead-based North Point Hospitality Group is developing the new Homewood Suites as part of River Street East, a $150 million mixed-use development that eventually could comprise "multiple hotels, retail space, riverfront dining with captivating views of the Savannah River and a 500-space parking structure, all wholly owned and operated by North Point Hospitality Group," the company's Website says.

I snapped the construction photo above while in Savannah as part of The Wilbert Group's engagement with Ben Carter Enterprises, which itself is in the middle of a major Savannah development, the Broughton Street Collection. Look for updates on that project soon and in the local, regional and national press.

A rendering of the hotel and River Street East appears below.

The Big Crane's Moving at Dart's Kimpton Project in Grand Cayman

 

Dec. 19, 2014 Note: For the latest update on this cool project, click here.

 SEVEN MILE BEACH, Grand Cayman (April 1, 2014) - While on Spring Break last month in the Cayman Islands, my son and I checked out the site where Cayman-based Dart Realty is developing a new $200 million resort that will mark Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants' first foray into the Caribbean.

SB Architects, in concert with Cayman's John Doak Architecture, designed the structure, which will sit on an expanded area of Seven Mile Beach. (See large rendering above.)

Earlier today, SB issued a press release touting the Kimpton resort in Cayman as one of 30 designed projects under construction at the end of the first quarter.

The McAlpine crane and rebar and concrete pilings are a great sign. The development, which according to Kimpton's website "will offer five restaurants and lounges, a cascading oceanfront pool, expansive indoor and outdoor meeting and function space and a destination spa. The property will also include 56 residences and six beachfront bungalows."

Last year, Dart COO Jackie Doak explained why the firm selected Kimpton as the hotel's flag.

“Kimpton excels in offering stylish yet comfortable hotels and providing genuine, unscripted guest experiences,” said Doak. “We were particularly drawn to Kimpton’s passion for creating a vibrant atmosphere in hotels and restaurants equally enjoyed by guests and locals,” she added. “Ken Dart’s vision is for a welcoming resort that showcases the same Caymanian hospitality that inspired him and his family to return to the island after their first visit more than 25 years ago.”

More from Kimpton on the property: "Overall, the look will follow a rustic yet polished, barefoot elegance in line with the upscale, casual nature of the island. A signature feature of the resort will be lush, natural landscaping designed by EDSA and featuring native flora and a profusion of gardens and green spaces to complement the beauty of Seven Mile Beach and the Caribbean Sea."

Work on the new resort property is picking up again, thanks to a recent ruling in favor of the government regarding a road near the development. 

What's cool is that the development team has erected an EarthCam that will allow people, especially real estate and hospitality buffs such as me, to track progress at the site. 

The Wilbert Group, the leading real estate PR firm in the States, is handing international public relations for Dart and also has a relationship with Kimpton in Georgia. We look forward to keeping everyone informed about what is happening at the site. (I promised my son, shown walking near the site, weekly updates.)

The resort is scheduled to open in late 2016.

 

 

 

Atlanta Developer Plans 470-Room Hotel in Savannah's Historic District

ATLANTA (April 22, 2013) - An Atlanta-based hospitality development firm just filed plans for a large hotel at the former Georgia Power property on East Bay Street in Savannah.

North Point Hospitality Group, which has several hotel properties in Savannah, plans to develop a 470-room hotel with 42,000 square feet of retail and commercial space at 600 East Bay St., according to a filing with the Georgia Departmet of Community Affairs. North Point would develop the mixed-use building as managing member of East River Street LLC, the property's owner.

North Point Hospitality is led by JK Patel and S. Jay Patel. Early this year, North Point Hospitality opened the first dual-branded Hilton hotel in Georgia (Hilton Garden Inn/Homewood Suites) in Midtown Atlanta.

Georgia Power listed the property (shown in photo by former colleague Steve Bisson) for sale in 2009, according to the Savannah Morning News.

The new hotel, which would be adjacent to the Marriott property that housed Olympic athletes who participated in water sports during the 1996 Summer Games, will be completed by 2019, the filing shows.

Hyatt Picks Dewey Beach for First Hotel in Delaware

DEWEY BEACH, Del. (Sept. 5, 2012) - Hyatt Hotels Corp. finally has discovered Delaware and is planning its first hotel in Dewey Beach (a way of life).

A Hyatt Place hotel will anchor the redevelopment of Dewey Beach's Ruddertowne property, located on the bayside of this party beach. Dewey Beach, officially incoporated in 1981, will be remembered as the last major beach on Delmarva where you could drink beer legally - on the beach.

The Ruddertowne redevelopment finally is moving forward after a couple years of legal battles. Dewey Beach Enterprises won its fight, and fencing was erected to cordon off the site last month, according to idewey.com.

Ruddertowne, named after the adjacent famous Rusty Rudder restaurant, is best known for the Lighthouse Restaurant. It's home to the World Famous Taco Toss happy hour, where I spent several Friday afternoons in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The rendering here shows a lighthouse.

Let's hope that means Taco Toss will continue, even after Chicago-based Hyatt establishes its first beachhead in The Small Wonder/First State/Blue Hen State.

Florida Group Acquires St. Regis on Eve of Commercial Real Estate's Biggest Event

ATLANTA (Feb. 17, 2011) - When Doug McMahon of Tavistock Group was in Buckhead with former Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last fall, the St. Regis Hotel and Residences must have caught his eye.

Early this morning, Windermere, Fla.-based Tavistock said it had acquired the upscale hotel on West Paces Ferry Road near Peachtree and the 30 unsold condos atop it.

The announcement came on the perfect day to create a big buzz in Atlanta's commercial real estate industry. This evening, hundreds of CRE people will put on their tuxes and long dresses and gather at the St. Regis for the annual NAIOP Night.

Here's the official release from PRNewswire.

ORLANDO, Fla., Feb. 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Tavistock Group announced today that it has acquired the 151-room St. Regis Hotel and the remaining 30 St. Regis Residences in Atlanta's exclusive Buckhead community. Tavistock Group acquired the property from a consortium of partners, some of whom were also the property's development team.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110216/FL49992 )

"We are thrilled to acquire the St. Regis property in Atlanta and believe it is a terrific asset in one of the Southeast's most prominent cities.  We believe Atlanta will continue to be a critically important economic and cultural center for the next several decades," said Douglas E. McMahon, a managing director of the diversified, privately-held investment company.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts will continue to manage The St. Regis Atlanta, which has proven to be a successful partnership to date, recently recognized as the Buckhead Business of the Year by the Buckhead Business Association.

"Our group is interested in finding and acquiring more quality assets like the St. Regis, and my team currently is looking across the country for similar opportunities," stated Barry Goff, the managing director of diversified acquisitions for Tavistock Group.

"The quality of the real estate asset and the City of Atlanta were driving factors for us," said McMahon, "and we look forward to expanding our presence in Atlanta and introducing the resident owners of the St. Regis to the benefits of being a part of the Tavistock Group family."

Opened in April 2009, The St. Regis Atlanta was developed by the SR Hotel Development Company, LLLP, and has enjoyed notable success both as a hotel and a preferred residential address. The St. Regis Atlanta has established a new standard of quality for high-rise hospitality and living in the Southeast. The St. Regis Hotel was recently presented the 2011 AAA Five Diamond Award in lodging, 2011 AAA Four Diamond Award in restaurants for Paces 88 and the 2010 Hot List Award by Conde Nast Traveler. Twenty-three of the fifty-three Residences already have been sold to a broad array of prominent community and business leaders from the city.

"We intend to be a hands-on, highly involved owner," added McMahon. "We will strive to make this the very best St. Regis hotel property and work to establish the St. Regis Residences at 88 West Paces Ferry as the most desirable address in the city of Atlanta."

About Tavistock Group

Tavistock Group is an international private investment company founded by Joe Lewis.

With investments in 250 companies across 15 countries, Tavistock Group's investment portfolio includes:  life sciences, professional sports team and sporting events, manufacturing and distribution, oil, gas and energy, financial services, restaurants, commercial properties, private luxury residential properties, resort properties and master-planned real estate developments.

Tavistock Group owns and has developed the renowned Isleworth and Lake Nona Golf & Country Clubs in Orlando, Florida, the luxury resort community of Albany in The Bahamas, and is currently building a 7,000-acre master-planned medical city in central Florida anchored by the new Nemours Children's Hospital, The Sanford-Burnham Institute, and The University of Central Florida's College of Medicine.

For more information on Tavistock Group, visit www.tavistock.com.

About The St. Regis Atlanta

Combining timeless sophistication with an unrivaled dimension of luxury, The St. Regis Atlanta Hotel & Residences debuted April 14, 2009. The 26-floor development features 151 luxuriously appointed guest rooms and suites, 53 St. Regis Residences, more than 16,000 square feet of contemporary meeting and event space, two exclusive bars, world-class culinary options, a state-of-the-art fitness facility that overlooks an exquisite 40,000-square-foot Pool Piazza and poolside Bar, a 7,800-square-foot Remede Spa and Paces 88, the signature restaurant. Each guest room and suite is attended by the signature St. Regis Butler Service, an ever present yet unobtrusive service dedicated to meeting the needs of discerning global travelers. The St. Regis Atlanta Hotel & Residences is located at 88 West Paces Ferry Road in Buckhead. For more information, please call (404) 563-7900 or visit www.stregis.com/atlanta.

About St. Regis Hotels & Resorts

Combining classic sophistication and modern luxury, the St. Regis brand remains faithful to its commitment to excellence. Founded by John Jacob Astor IV, with the opening of the first St. Regis Hotel in New York City over a century ago, the St. Regis brand of hotels is known for its unique luxury dimension, customized service and refined elegance, in the best destinations worldwide. Plans for this brand to globally continue its legacy include long-awaited St. Regis US and Latin American hotels and resorts in Bal Harbour, Buenos Aires and the Riviera Maya. In Asia, St. Regis has also announced plans to open hotels in Bangkok, Chengdu, Kuala Lumpur, Sanya Yalong Bay and Tianjin. In Africa and the Middle East, the St. Regis brand will continue to expand in Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Doha and Mauritius. The distinctive trait of the St. Regis experience is customized service and attention, coveted locations and luxurious design. For more information on St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, please visit www.stregis.com.

About Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with 1,025 properties in 100 countries and territories with 145,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood Hotels is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis®, The Luxury Collection®, W®, Westin®, Le Meridien®, Sheraton®, Four Points® by Sheraton, and the recently launched Aloft®, and Element (SM).  Starwood Hotels also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high quality vacation interval ownership resorts. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com.

 

Toyoko Scrapping Plans for 40-Story Hotel in Downtown Atlanta?

ATLANTA (Feb. 8, 2011) - It appears Toyoko of Japan is saying "sayonara" to its plans for a 40-story no-frills hotel  at Forsyth and Luckie streets downtown. 

The 0.31-acre tract at 90 Forsyth St. that would house Atlanta's first Toyoko Inn has been put up for sale. Josh Finley of CB Richard Ellis has the listing, at least according to the sign recently erected on the property that today serves as a AAA parking lot.

Toyoko paid Selig Enterprises a whopping $3.94 million for the sliver of land in 2008, according to Fulton County property records. Of course, it would be interesting if Steve Selig makes an offer on the lot after cashing in once already.

If Toyoko in fact is scrapping plans for Toyoko Atlanta, it would be the latest development in the saga of the planned hotel. Toyoko filed plans for the hotel in 2008 and then went quiet.

But a Wall Street Journal article last summer that said Toyoko still planned to develop a 700-room hotel on the site created buzz in downtown and hospitality circles.

The latest move, the listing of the land, likely spells the end of dreams for a tall, skinny no-frills hotel in downtown Atlanta.

CBRE Calls for Offers on Atlanta's First Skyscraper

By Tony Wilbert, WNS PR

ATLANTA (Sept. 15, 2010) - Something interesting's going on at downtown's historic Carnegie Hotel, a former office building commonly referred to as Atlanta's first skyscraper.

The historic landmark, as the city of Atlanta designated it in 1990, has been for sale for a while. However, earlier this month, CB Richard Ellis issued a call for offers. All offers must be submitted to Lewis Miller of CBRE by 5 p.m. Friday (Sept. 17). "This upscale boutique property is located in what will be the completely renovated historic Carnegie Building, which was Atlanta's first skyscraper," CBRE says in the listing information. (Photo courtesy of LoopNet.)

The building, owned by Carnegie Hotels LLC, which appears to be an affiliate of Diplomat, is slated to become InterContinental Hotels Group's second Hotel Indigo in Atlanta. The renovation into a hotel Indigo was to have been completed in February 2011 at a cost of nearly $31 million.

However, a new buyer could bring in any hotel flag it desires, according to CBRE's listing information. "Current ownership has an agreement to operate the property as Hotel Indigo, an Intercontinental Group brand, but the property is being offered unencumbered by brand subject to closing requirements," the listing states. "For qualified investors, the attractive in-place debt, which matures in 2012, may be assumable, and $3 million in tax credits are potentially available to an investor."

The property, which has sold for as much as $12 million, now is valued at $4.66 million, according to Fulton County.

The historic building adjacent to the former Macy's store was designed by architect G. Lloyd Preacher, who also designed Atlanta City Hall, Henry Grady Hotel and Bass High School.