Westin Harbour Island to be sold to buyer planning renovations
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Apr 21, 2015

The sale of the Westin Harbour Island is pending.

Dan Peek, senior managing director of HFF's hospitality practice group, said Wednesday that the property is to be sold to a "long-term holder," though he declined to disclose the buyer.

HFF is representing the seller, Blackstone Group, in the deal.

Tampa Bay Business Journal was first to report that the property was on the market in early February. It includes 299 rooms and 18,000 square feet of meeting space. "It will remain a Westin, and it will benefit from substantial capital," Peek told the audience at Westshore Alliance's annual development forum.

It's common practice in the hotel industry for a flag to require renovations when a property changes hands.

Harbour Island is benefitting as the real estate market in downtown Tampa heats up - two residential towers are in the work there. Knights Point, the retail-and-office complex adjacent to the Westin, is also being renovated and recently landed a large office tenant.

Ashley Gurbal Kritzer is a reporter for the Tampa Bay Business Journal.