St. Pete hotel sold for $20M
By Frances McMorris
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jul 11, 2017

The Staybridge Suites in St. Petersburg has changed hands, with a Rhode Island company buying the hotel for $20.5 million, according to Pinellas County property records.

The InterContinental Hotels Group PLC branded hotel at 940 5th Ave. S was purchased by Procaccianti Companies of Cranston, Rhode Island, and will be operated by its hospitality management arm, TPG Hotels & Resorts. The new owners were attracted to the 119-room hotel built in 2014 for its strong cash flow and location to the area's high-growth market, according to Hunter Hotel Advisors, which represented the seller, Bayboro Hoteliers LLC.

The sales price breaks down to $172,000 per key, Daniel Riley, a senior analyst with Hunter Hotel Advisors, confirmed. Not only were the new owners enticed by the hotel's performance, the age of the building was a big factor. "It's not quite four years old," Riley noted.

Atlanta-based Hunter Hotel Advisors, which primarily represents sellers, has been busy in the Tampa Bay region recently.

"Florida is a hot real estate market but in particular a hot hotel real estate market," Riley said. "It all goes back to tourism."

Since tourism has been on rise, especially at the beaches of Pinellas County such as award-winning Clearwater Beach, investors are taking the plunge.

Visit St. Pete Clearwater reported strong tourist development tax revenue numbers for the first quarter of 2017. For the first three months of the year, the so-called bed taxes collected in Pinellas County totaled $17.5 million, with March being the largest single month in its tourism history at whopping $7.8 million. The county's beaches have been garnering national accolades and new hotels have been springing up, particularly in Clearwater in the past year.

Hunter Hotel Advisors is seeing the results of tourism driving the hotel business.

On June 7, Hunter announced that it represented a Southeast hospitality fund in the purchase of the Hampton Inn Tampa Busch Gardens for $11.7 million or $140,000 a key from Sarai Busch Gardens LLC. The buyer for the 84-room, new construction was Greensboro, North Carolina-based Daly Hotel Management. Hunter arranged $8.83 million in financing for the acquisition of the hotel. Daly was attracted to the new hotel's Hilton brand and location directly across from Busch Gardens.

In January, Hunter also represented a real estate private equity firm in the sale of the SpringHill Suites St. Petersburg Clearwater, for an undisclosed amount. The hotel was purchased by a Canadian fund that is planning to capitalize on the hotels strong cash flow, Marriott brand and location in a high growth market. Built in 2006, the three-story, 79 room hotel was fully renovated in 2015.

One year ago, Hunter represented Bay Winds Lodging Sarasota LLC, a unit of Naples-based White's Lodgings, in the sale of the Hyatt Place Sarasota. The 114-room hotel was bought for $16.1 million by a subsidiary of Lodgco Hospitality LLC, which is based in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.

The Staybridge is the latest in a string of hotel deals or new construction in Pinellas.

A corporate entity tied to Bethesda, Maryland-based Host Hotels & Resorts (NYSE: HST) paid $214 million for the 277-room Don CeSar St. Pete Beach and its 70-room Beach House Suites in February. The real estate transactions were recorded at $151.8 million for the Don CeSar and $50.8 million for the Beach House Suites, and translated into $616,700 per key.

A Texas group bought the Sirata Beach Resort and Conference Center in early February, and the Sands Motel on Treasure Island also recently changed hands for $5.25 million. In January, the $175 million Wyndham Grand Clearwater Beach Resort opened its doors; in early 2016, Opal Sands Resort opened on Clearwater Beach.

Also last year, the Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach, a 242-key resort sold for $120.5 million or $497,933 per key. Westmont Hospitality Group, based in Houston, bought the hotel from a corporate entity tied to Tampa's Convergent Capital Partners.

Frances is a reporter for the Tampa Bay Business Journal.