Four Diamond-Rated Hilton Orrington Hotel Acquired
Evanston, Ill. & Seattle — The Dow Hotel Company, LLC (DHC), a hotel ownership, investment and management company, today announced that it has acquired in a joint venture with The Carlyle Group’s (NASDAQ: CG) Carlyle Realty Partners VI, the 269-room, Four Diamond-rated Hilton Orrington hotel in Evanston, Ill. It is the third property acquired by DHC and its investment partners in the past nine months. DHC will operate the hotel. The hotel will undertake an approximate $6 million renovation/upgrade over the next 12 months. The improvements will focus primarily on guest rooms, corridors, upscale lounge and coffee concept, meeting and other public space.
The property completed a total transformation in 2004 and further upgraded from an independent property to the Hilton brand in 2010. Additional enhancements are designed to provide guests and local residents with an unparalleled North Shore lodging experience.
Located at 1710 Orrington Ave., the Hilton Orrington features a 12,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art, International Association of Conference Centers (IACC)-certified center. The hotel also offers an additional 20,000 square feet of ballroom and other meeting space capable of serving up to 550 guests. The property includes a 173-space parking garage, business center and retail shoppes.
“Our first step will be to reach out to establish close ties with the Evanston community, Northwestern University and our other neighbors,” said Murray Dow, president of The Dow Hotel Company. “We will build on the hotel’s reputation as the North Shore’s preferred gathering place and will implement a dramatic enhancement to the food and beverage experience.”
The cornerstone of the F&B upgrade is the opening of Farmhouse Evanston, which will have an entrance off the hotel’s lobby. The restaurant will be a sister eatery to the Michelin-rated Farmhouse Chicago and will feature 36 craft beers on tap and Midwestern cuisine sourced from local farms.
Stepping Up Acquisition Program
Dow noted that the company has aggressively stepped up its acquisition program in the past year. “This is our third transaction with The Carlyle Group, and we look forward to building on our relationship, as well as with our other institutional investors,” he said. “We finally are seeing a substantial number of attractive, quality, full-service properties coming to market and have one of the most active pipelines in our company’s 15-year history,” he added. “We expect the next several years will create strong growth, including acquisitions, joint ventures, and third-party management, as well as improved returns from our current 13-hotel portfolio. To support this recent growth, we’ve added key new staff, including Rick Rogovin as vice president of hotel investment, to support our acquisitions and financings and Amy Wiseman, project support.” Hospitality Funding LLC, a Palm Beach, Fla.-headquartered boutique investment firm, focused on raising equity, mezzanine and debt financing for hospitality assets, advised the buyer group on the transaction.
About The Carlyle Group :The Carlyle Group (NASDAQ: CG) is a global alternative asset manager with $176 billion of assets under management across 114 funds and 76 fund of funds vehicles as of March 31, 2013. Carlyle’s purpose is to invest wisely and create value on behalf of its investors, many of whom are public pensions. Carlyle invests across four segments — Corporate Private Equity, Real Assets, Global Market Strategies and Solutions — in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America. Carlyle has expertise in various industries, including: aerospace, defense & government services, consumer & retail, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrial, technology & business services, telecommunications & media and transportation. The Carlyle Group employs more than 1,400 people in 34 offices across six continents. Web: www.carlyle.com.
About The Dow Hotel Company: Founded in 1997, Seattle-based The Dow Hotel Company is a hotel owner/investor and operator of 13 first-class, full-service hotels with properties throughout the United States. The company’s portfolio of owned and managed properties consists of institutional-grade hotels, under such brands as Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Embassy Suites, Doubletree, Sheraton, and Crowne Plaza. The company aggressively seeks to acquire, co-invest with joint venture partners and/or manage mid- to large-size, first-class, full-service hotels, especially those with extensive food and beverage capabilities. The company currently operates food and beverage facilities around the nation, ranging from upscale dining to trend-setting, bars/lounges, as well as with Starbucks and Tully’s coffee outlets. The division’s proprietary restaurant concepts also include Basil’s Kitchen, Masterson’s, SunSpot, and BC Bistro. Additional information about The Dow Hotel Company may be found at www.dowhotelco.com.