Dec. 20–Hotel investment firm Maritz, Wolff & Co. is buying the shuttered Renaissance Suites hotel downtown and will reopen it as a Courtyard by Marriott next year following a $15 million renovation.
Patrick Lowery, principal of Maritz, Wolff & Co., which has offices in Clayton and Los Angeles, said the Renaissance Suites’ location next to America’s Center convention complex and the property’s oversize guest rooms made it an attractive acquisition. The sale is expected to close Feb. 14.
“We think it’s a great historic building and it’s well located adjacent to the convention center,” Lowery said, adding the hotel will seek to attract convention attendees and business and leisure travelers.
The 24-story, 165-suite property at 827 Washington Avenue closed in November 2011. The hotel originally opened as as the Lennox Hotel in 1929 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Renaissance Suites is located across the street from the 917-room Renaissance Grand hotel, which is not included in the sale. The Renaissance Grand is being sold to a different buyer, 800 Washington LLC.
Both the Renaissance Grand and the Renaissance Suites, which opened in 2002, were foreclosed on by bondholders in 2009 after the properties failed to generate enough revenue to cover interest payments. UMB Bank is the trustee for the hotel’s bondholders selling the properties.
Maritz, Wolff & Co. sold the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Clayton a year ago but remains an asset manager at the property. Lowery said the company is seeking other hotel acquisitions locally and nationally.
