Pasco lakefront hotel sells for more than $12 million
By Frances McMorris
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Jan 16, 2018

The Holiday Inn Express & Suites Trinity, a lakefront hotel in central Pasco County, has been sold for $12.2 million.

MPH Hotels sold the 87-guest room, three-story hotel to Trinity 123 LLC for a sales price that represents more than $142,000 per room. The transaction is the highest price-per-key metric for a Holiday Inn Express in Florida, said Robb Sercu, chief communications officer for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Properties Group, which represented the seller and brokered the sale. The deal closed Jan. 11.

The Holiday Inn Express attracts both business and leisure travelers. The property also services relatives visiting families in the area. It also accommodates workers at nearby development sites. "With all the construction in the area, that's driving business as well," Sercu said.

Located at 2125 Corporate Center Drive in Trinity, the hotel is 18 miles from Tampa International Airport and near to Trinity Medical Center, golf clubs, beaches, restaurants, shopping and other attractions.

It was good time for MPH to sell the property. MPH "is in the business of building new hotels in good markets," Sercu said. Once the property has gained a reputation for servicing the market well and the "numbers make sense" the company then sells the hotel and builds more, he said.

Overall, Tampa Bay's hotel market "is still growing," said Sercu. "We've had record breaking stays in the hotels in submarkets around Tampa Bay for a couple of years now." Additionally, "the secondary markets are continuing to grow and build more hotels," he said.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Properties Group customer MPH Hotels bought the property's vacant land in 2014.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Properties Group Broker/Owners Allen Crumbley and Dewey Mitchell, Sercu and agents Renee Dyer and Kim Lohry worked with MPH Hotels to secure local investors for hotel construction and ownership.