McNeill Hotel Investors acquired the 95-room, select-service, all-suite Home2 Suites by Hilton Gainesville in Florida, adding to the company’s growing portfolio and its geographic footprint in Florida. The announcement was made by Phillip McNeill Jr., the company’s CEO.
Home2 Suites by Hilton Gainesville was completed in 2016 and offers a complimentary breakfast, 1,224 square feet of meeting space, a fitness room, outdoor pool, two lobby workstation computers and a 24-hour pantry market. The hotel is located near the 2,000-acre University of Florida, the nation’s ninth largest public university with an enrollment of more than 35,000 students.
The property is also less than 1 mile from The Health Sciences Center Gainesville, which encompasses six health colleges, six research institutes, two specialty hospitals and a teaching hospital. Additionally, Home2 Suites by Hilton Gainesville is 3 miles from the 1-million-square-foot Butler Plaza, the largest retail power center in Florida.
“This recently built property is an excellent strategic fit for our growing hotel portfolio,” McNeill said in a statement. “We have great operational experience with the Home2 Suites brand and extended stay properties overall, as they now comprise more than half of our existing portfolio of hotels.”
“Gainesville has many favorable long-term demand drivers, including the close by Health Sciences Center Gainesville and the University of Florida. We look forward to becoming a part of the fabric of this community as People Serving People,” Mark Ricketts, the company’s president and COO said.
The acquisition by McNeill Hotel Investors was facilitated by capital recently secured by McNeill through New York-based Almanac Realty Investors.
McNeill Hotel Investors and McNeill Hotel Company now own and manage 19 select-service hotels, including as an approved franchisee for Marriott and Hilton, across the Southeast, the Midwest and mountain states, with several additional properties in the acquisition and development pipeline.