PORTLAND, Ore. and MIAMI–Provenance Hotels (Provenance) and affiliates of Gencom, a leading domestic and international investment and development firm, today announced the formation of a special purpose hospitality venture, GenPro. As part of the venture, Provenance will contribute various hotels it owns throughout the United States, along with cash, and the Gencom affiliate will contribute cash. Jointly led by Provenance’s Founder and Chairman, Gordon Sondland, and Gencom Founder, Karim Alibhai, the venture will seek to expand through future acquisitions and/or redevelopment opportunities.
GenPro’s hotel assets will be managed by Benchmark Pyramid. Alibhai currently sits on the Board of Benchmark Pyramid, and Sondland will also join the Board upon the close of Benchmark Pyramid’s acquisition of Provenance, which is expected in the second quarter of 2022.
Sondland said, “We are excited to team up with Gencom and its affiliates, one of the nation’s leading hospitality investment and development firms, to launch a large and growing hotel real estate venture, GenPro. The Gencom team brings an entrepreneurial approach and attention to detail and has long been known for its work in the hospitality sector both in management platforms and ownership of hotels across all brands. With my nearly four decades of experience in the hotel industry and the friendships I developed during my tenure as U.S. Ambassador to the European Union, I look forward to sourcing opportunities for GenPro to grow both domestically and internationally.”
“We are thrilled to launch GenPro with Gordon and his team, and we look forward to growing its attractive portfolio of properties through compelling organic and inorganic opportunities,” said Alibhai. “We remain bullish on market trends in hospitality and are confident that GenPro will deliver long-term value to its stakeholders.”
GenPro’s initial portfolio of properties includes the downtown Seattle, Washington—Hotel Max; the boutique Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery, situated just blocks from New Orleans, Louisiana’s French Quarter; downtown Nashville, Tennessee’s newly renovated Hotel Preston; the museum-worthy collection of glass art at Hotel Murano in the South Sound; and four downtown Portland, Oregon hotels: the Hollywood golden age-style Hotel Deluxe in the Goose Hollow neighborhood, Sentinel in the West End, Hotel Lucia, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and the art-filled rooms of Dossier.
