Anschutz Entertainment Group Inc. is looking to recapitalize and add a partner for the J.W. Marriott and the Ritz-Carlton hotels at L.A. Live. in downtown. Both are Marriott International Inc. brands.
Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., which is helping downtown-based AEG find a partner, announced the plans Jan. 25.
“We are seeing incredible demand for luxury hotels both domestically and globally as they outperformed during the pandemic,” Gilda Perez-Alvarado, global chief executive of JLL Hotels & Hospitality, said in a statement. “This offering represents the largest urban luxury hotel offering globally since the pandemic hit in March of 2020 and is a unique opportunity to partner with a best-in-class owner to take the hotel expansion project to the next level.”
Alan Reay, president of Irvine-based Atlas Hospitality Group, said AEG was likely interested because of the high investor interest in hotels now.
“AEG is looking at the tremendous amount of capital that is out there right now and the interest in the hotel sector and is looking at trying to combine bringing a strategic partner at a price level they didn’t think they would be able to get during Covid,” Reay said. “This is really capitalizing on the strong buyer demand for very strong hotel assets, strong long-term locations.”
JLL Hotels & Hospitality Senior Managing Director John Strauss added that luxury hotels are doing very well right now.
“The hotel industry continues to recover from the pandemic, and luxury hotels in particular have fared very well, up nearly 17% over 2019 levels,” he said in a statement.
AEG previously announced plans to expand the two hotels, which were completed in 2010 and cost AEG about $1 billion.
The Ritz-Carlton has 123 guestrooms in its five-story property, which also features a sky lounge, restaurant and spa.
The company plans to add 860 hotel rooms and more than 150,000 square feet of ballroom and meeting space to the existing JW Marriott at L.A. Live.
The J.W. Marriott, which was renovated in 2020, has 878 rooms, 134,000 square feet of space and is 18 stories high.
“With demand currently very strong for high-quality hotel investment opportunities in marquee locations, we believe now is the right time to identify a partner to help us complete this project well in advance of upcoming major citywide events such as the 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics,” Ted Fikre, vice chairman and chief legal and development officer at AEG, said in a statement.
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