Blackstone snaps up Clearwater Beach resort
By Henry Queen
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Sep 3, 2024

A prime resort property on Clearwater Beach has been sold to real estate behemoth Blackstone.

The New York-based alternative asset manager bought the 286-key Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach Resort & Spa from Westmont Hospitality Group for $137 million, according to a Pinellas County deed filed Tuesday. The prices of furniture, fixtures and equipment aren't usually included in the property sale record, and the total sales price is likely higher than what's publicly available. Bloomberg reported on Aug. 21 that the sale could total $200 million.

Blackstone couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Based on the sales price recorded in Pinellas County, Blackstone's purchase amounts to over $479,000 per room. Westmont Hospitality Group, a Canadian firm with a U.S. headquarters in Houston, purchased the Hyatt Regency in 2016 for a recorded $120.5 million.

Florida hospitality remains attractive to investors, even as the post-pandemic travel boom has begun to wane.

Hyatt Regency Orlando, located next to one of the busiest convention centers in the country, sold in August for $1 billion to Los Angeles-based Ares Management and Houston-based Rida Development — or about $622,000 per guest room. It was one of the highest-priced hotel transactions in Orlando's history.

Blackstone, through its subsidiary BRE Hotels & Resorts, owns six Florida hotels, including the Hampton Inn & Suites in Oldsmar. Its national portfolio includes over 100 hotel properties. In San Diego, Blackstone invested over $550 million to enhance the historic Hotel del Coronado.

Hyatt Regency Clearwater Beach received a major facelift in 2018 when Westmont added 37 new guest rooms, one-third of which were suites. The 17-story hotel also now boasts 20,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space.