Chicago-based commercial private investment firm Walton Street Capital purchased the Westin Harbour Island in Tampa Bay, Fla., for an undisclosed sum.
The hotel, which opened in 1987, has a renovation in the works according to HFF, the firm which arranged financing for the deal. The property currently has 299 guestrooms, 17,432 square feet of meeting space, an outdoor pool and views of the waterfront. In July, HFF was involved with the sale of the Hilton Tampa Downtown, which changed hands for $110 million and was second only to the sale of the Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina, which reached nearly $200 million when it was purchased by Cascade investment and Jeff Vinik, owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
In a statement, Daniel Peek, senior managing director of HFF, said the full sale price of the property will approach the $110 million spent on the Hilton Tampa Downtown after the Westin completes renovations. The motivation behind the sale has its roots, in part, due to Tampa’s growing reputation as an events market, particularly as the city’s bay area is expected to draw scores of visitors next year during the 2017 College Football Playoff National Championship. To that end, all three of Tampa’s biggest-selling hotels (the Westin, Hilton and Marriott) are within walking distance of a $2 billion mixed-use office, retail and housing project to be developed by a real estate firm backed by Vinik and Cascade.
The Westin will be managed by HEI Hotels & Resorts of Connecticut.