Whitestone buys Renaissance in Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus, Ohio-based Whitestone Capital has acquired the 408-key Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel from the Marriott Family Trust for an undisclosed amount.

According to Columbus Business First, the last sale for the hotel was in 2004, when it was acquired for $14.5 million by Terrapin Columbus.

Whitestone said it plans to give the 22-story hotel a comprehensive renovation, including guest rooms and a reconfigured lobby. The hotel has 23,500 sq. ft. of meeting space.

The hotel is set to benefit from the first phase of the Capital Line, a two-mile-long pedestrian pathway that will connect downtown Columbus.

This is Whitestone’s third acquisition in Columbus over the last 10 months, joining the Westin Columbus Great Southern Hotel in March 2025 (which it acquired for $10.65 million) and a 50,000 sq. ft. office building in Polaris in September 2025, which brings Whitestone’s total Columbus-area asset total to five. The company completed 12 transactions across the country over the last two years.

Fairfax, Virginia and Toronto-based Crescent Hotels & Resorts will manage the property (it also manages Whitestone’s Westin property), which will stay with the Renaissance brand within Marriott.

“This marks our largest purchase in the city to date and demonstrates our commitment to expanding our presence in the upper-upscale hospitality space,” said Jay Batra, CEO of Whitestone Companies. “We have had our eyes on the Renaissance for some time. With the long-term owner seeking to exit the asset and the significant investment the City of Columbus is making to transform the Gay Street corridor, we knew it was the right time to move forward with this acquisition.”