by Shane Henson — October 3, 2012—Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, a global real estate services firm focused exclusively on hotels and hospitality, recently announced it arranged the sale on behalf of the Dubai Investment Group of the historic Essex House Hotel located in Central Park South in Manhattan, New York. The firm, an asset specialty division of global financial and professional services firm Jones Lang LaSalle, also secured the acquisition financing on behalf of the new owner, Strategic Hotels & Resorts.
Arthur Adler, CEO of Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, Americas, managing director Jeffrey Davis, and senior vice president Gilda Perez-Alvarado led the Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels team on this transaction. Mathew Comfort, executive vice president of the firm’s Real Estate Investment Banking group, led the team on the acquisition financing. According to Adler, the Strategic Hotels & Resorts’ purchase of the property points to better things to come within the Big Apple’s real estate market.
“New York City has rebounded strongly from the recession and the market continues to be high on investors’ list of cities to target for acquisition in 2012,” said Adler. “We expect the New York hotel market to be the leading market for investments in the United States, as evidenced by the year-to-date deal volume, which has reached $1.2 billion. Overall, in 2012, acquisition activity is expected to reach $2.4 billion, equaling the second most liquid year on record. The overall New York market experienced a 6.1 percent RevPAR jump through year-to-date July 2012, and still ranks as the number one market in terms of overall RevPAR.”
According to Adler, The Essex House attracted strong interest from investors throughout the world by virtue of its Central Park South location, its long-standing reputation in the Manhattan market, and the extremely high quality of its guest rooms and public spaces.
The newly renamed JW Marriott Essex House Hotel has 509 guestrooms, including 95 rooms with commanding Central Park views, and world-class amenities, including a full-service spa and fitness center, a fine dining restaurant, and 11,600 square feet of meeting and event space. The 80-year-old Art Deco style hotel is part of the National Trust Historic Hotels of America, and was awarded North America’s Leading Business Hotel and United States’ Leading Business Hotel in 2011 by the World Travel Awards.
The hotel underwent a $90 million renovation to enhance its facilities, services and guestrooms in 2007 financed by the Dubai Investment Group. Through 2014, Strategic Hotels & Resorts plans to invest an estimated $18.3 million on various property improvements, including renovations to common areas, systems upgrades, and branding efforts to distinguish it as a JW Marriott property.
