New York investors buy Aloft Tampa Downtown hotel
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Aug 28, 2023

A New York real estate investment firm has acquired the Aloft Tampa Downtown hotel — its third hospitality investment on Tampa’s urban waterfront in two years.

Newbond Holdings closed on the 130-key hotel on Monday. A purchase price was not disclosed, and a deed has not yet been filed in Hillsborough County. The firm also owns Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk, which is next door to the Aloft Tampa Downtown, as well as Westin Tampa Waterside on Harbour Island.

JLL’s Hotels and Hospitality Group arranged Newbond’s acquisition financing. The Plasencia Group brokered the sale of the hotel on behalf of the seller, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Pharos Hospitality. Pharos bought the hotel in 2015 as part of a portfolio transaction.

At the Aloft, Newbond said it is “planning a comprehensive hotel renovation to include all guest rooms, public areas and the pool deck.”

“Our third hotel investment in downtown Tampa since 2021 demonstrates our conviction in the long-term Tampa growth story,” Neil Luthra, Newbond founding partner, said in a statement. “Tampa’s robust job and population growth, flourishing convention and tourism business, and continued institutional investment have created one of the strongest real estate and hospitality markets in the country.”

The Aloft opened in 2013 after a $20 million redevelopment by Tampa-based Liberty Group and Convergent Capital Partners. The hotel was previously an office building, and the redevelopment was one of the earliest private investments in downtown Tampa following the Great Recession.