Ashford Hospitality Prime entered into an agreement with Marriott to convert its Courtyard Philadelphia Downtown hotel to an Autograph Collection property. Additionally, Ashford began marketing for sale its Marriott Plano Legacy hotel in Plano, Texas. These announcements are consistent with Ashford’s strategy to either reposition or opportunistically sell its non-core hotels.
The agreement with Marriott calls for the Courtyard Philadelphia to be converted to an Autograph hotel by June 30, 2019, following a conversion product improvement plan currently estimated to be approximately $23 million – including updates to the guestrooms, guest bathrooms, corridors, lobby, restaurant and meeting space. Marriott will continue to manage the property after the conversion under a management agreement.
Ashford also announced that it is listing its Marriott Plano hotel for sale and has engaged Holliday Fenoglio Fowler to market the property to potential buyers.
"Consistent with the announcement of our refined strategy of focusing on luxury hotels and resorts, we have been exploring opportunities to either reposition our non-core hotels to better fit that strategy or to sell them if we think the timing is right and we have visibility into an accretive redeployment of our capital," Richard J. Stockton, Ashford Prime's president and CEO, said in a statement. "With its prime location across from City Hall and historical building designation, the upbranding of the Courtyard Philadelphia to an Autograph Collection will occupy a desirable niche in the attractive downtown Philadelphia market.
"As for the Marriott Plano, the property has performed very well over the last several years in the dynamic and growing Plano market and we currently see an opportunity to capitalize on the growth and investment taking place in that market," Stockton said.
Ashford Hospitality Prime is a real estate investment trust focused on investing in luxury hotels and resorts.