Westin Tampa Waterside on Harbour Island sells for $67.5 million
The buyer paid 60 percent more than the property sold for in 2016.

By Jay Cridlin
Tampa Bay Times
Published: Sep 7, 2021

One of downtown Tampa’s signature hotels has a new owner.

The Westin Tampa Waterside on Harbour Island sold Sept. 3 to a group of real estate investors for $67.5 million in funds managed by New York private equity firm Apollo Global Management, according to a deed filed with the Hillsborough County Clerk of the Circuit Court’s office.

The 309-room Westin Tampa Waterside recently underwent a $17 million renovation, according to an announcement from the buyers. It sits directly across Garrison Channel from the Tampa Convention Center and is near Water Street Tampa, the $3.5 billion downtown development led by Lightning owner Jeff Vinik and an investment company funded by Bill Gates.

The hotel last changed hands in 2016, selling for more than $42.3 million, according to the Hillsborough County property appraiser. The new price represents a 60 percent markup.

“Our investment in the Westin Tampa Waterside is in line with our positive long-term outlook on the broader Tampa market, where we are acquiring high-quality real estate at a significant discount to replacement cost,” Dan Kwon, a partner in Apollo’s real estate arm, said in a statement.

Apollo may be best known around Tampa Bay for their 2020 purchase of Largo’s Tech Data, one of the area’s largest corporations, for $6 billion. Tech Data recently merged with another California technology distribution company in a deal worth more than $8 billion that left Apollo controlling about 45 percent of the company.