News Archive: January
Martin Belz, President & Chairman of Peabody Hotel Group, Files for Bankruptcy
January 31, 2014
Jan. 31--Arkansas real estate deals that went bad have exposed the finances and sometimes lavish lifestyle of a Memphis scion. Martin S. "Marty'' Belz, son of Jack Belz and president and chairman of the Peabody Hotel Group, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Dec. 27. The missteps were Martin Belz's personal side deals and do not involve the family's larger Belz Enterprises, parties on both sides told The Commercial Appeal. Business entities within Belz Enterprises include the iconic Peabody Hotel on Union in Memphis and substantial commercial and industrial real estate holdings. While his liabilities amount to $97.7 million against $60....
Fulcrum Hospitality LLC Appoints Veteran Hospitality Executive as Chief Operating Officer
Fulcrum Hospitality LLC | January 22, 2014
Prominent lodging industry expert Cheryl Boyer has joined Fulcrum's senior leadership team. New York, NY January 24, 2014 – This week, Fulcrum Hospitality LLC ("Fulcrum") announced the appointment of hospitality industry veteran Cheryl Boyer to its senior leadership team as Chief Operating Officer. Ms. Boyer's 20-plus year background in providing consulting and asset management to institutional investors, lenders and other key industry players is an ideal addition to Fulcrum's existing core team of hospitality executives. Ms. Boyer was formerly the President of Lodging Advisors, a highly regarded consulting practice with which Fulcrum...
Millennium Hotels & Resorts Closes Downtown St. Louis, MO Millennium Hotel; Leaves Tower in Limbo
January 22, 2014
Jan. 22--After 45 years, the spinning stopped. The Millennium, the downtown hotel with the rooftop restaurant that went around and around, closes today without a redevelopment plan in sight. But at least the 28-story, cylindrical hotel that opened in 1969 won't look abandoned. The owner, Millennium Hotels and Resorts, will maintain some utilities, keep an elevator in operation and won't board up any windows, said Otis Williams, executive director of the St. Louis Development Corp. SLDC, the city's development agency, remains in talks with the hotel's owner about what it plans to do with the site, at 200 South Fourth Street, Williams sai...
Albert Cheong Appointed Group General Manager of Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa, Malaysia
Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa | January 9, 2014
BANDAR SUNWAY, SELANGOR, MALAYSIA: 10 January 2014.....Sunway International Hotels & Resorts is pleased to announce the appointment of Albert Cheong as Group General Manager of Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa, effective 2 January 2014. In his new capacity, Cheong will be responsible for the hotel operations, leading the teams to continually be people passionate and deliver operational efficiencies at the 1,234-room multiple hotel development, located within Sunway Resort City, in Greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Cheong brings with him more than 35 years of international hospitality management experience, specialising in Corporate, Oper...
Benjamin Duke Holloway, Prominent South Florida Real Estate Pioneer, Dead at 88
January 1, 2014
Jan. 01--Donald Trump's quest for a big real estate score, Norman Braman's foray into the automobile industry, and Continental Companies' aim to fill Coconut Grove hotel suites with baby grand pianos all led to one man: Benjamin Duke Holloway. As a senior executive for Equitable Life Assurance Society's real estate subsidiary in the 1970s and '80s, Holloway oversaw billions in investment from Miami to New York, and was a man whom businessmen sought out to secure financing for their ambitions. Under his watch, Equitable snatched up the Omni downtown, helped finance renovations to Miami Beach's Fontainebleau hotel and an expansion of Dade...
Mississippi’s Hard Rock Casino Biloxi’s Platinum Tower, its $32.5 M Expansion, Opens Adding 154 Keys
January 31, 2014
Jan. 31--BILOXI -- Colored lights illuminated the exterior of the new Hard Rock Casino Biloxi's Platinum Tower on Thursday night when a sneak peek gave invited guests a first look at the hotel that opens today. Kim Daoust, designer with Tandem in Las Vegas, promised the crowd this hotel is something unique for her company, "and we do hotels and casinos around the world." After the traditional guitar-smash celebration, General Manager Duncan McKenzie led a tour of the tower. The music memorabilia that fills the Hard Rock Biloxi carries through to every floor of the new hotel. Guests pass by Elvis Presley's pajamas and outfits worn by Sam...
HFZ Capital Group Acquires Shore Club in Miami Beach, FL for $175 Million; Plans “Re-Imagination”
January 9, 2014
Jan. 09--After dodging a foreclosure sale earlier this year, the Shore Club has sold for just over $175 million to owners who plan some changes at the 309-room Miami Beach hotel. "We have an extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to re-imagine and reposition a world-class property in a market that has seen continued demand for luxury properties," said Ziel Feldman, founder and managing principal of HFZ Capital Group, in a press release this week. New York City-based HFZ acquired the hotel with an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group. Philips International, a seller, will still be involved with the new ownership group. Three yea...
Fiksdal Hotel and Aspen Suites in Rochester, MN Sold to U.S. Hotel & Resort Management for $13.7 M
January 14, 2014
Jan. 14--Hotels continue to be hot properties in Rochester, with a pair of prominent ones, including the iconic Fiksdal Hotel, recently selling for $13.7 million. U.S. Hotel and Resort Management Inc., a subsidiary of Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Ramkota Cos. Inc., bought the Fiksdal Hotel and the adjacent Aspen Suites from primary owner Blue Stem Capital, also of Sioux Falls, and minority stockholder Glen Fiksdal, of Rochester. The sale closed on Dec. 27, according to Olmsted County records. U.S. Hotel affiliate Regency Hotel Management will operate and manage both hotels. "There will be significant improvements to both properties in 2014. ...
