DC conversion gets Marriott to 1 million rooms

WASHINGTON, D.C. — More than a third of Marriott’s room signings in 2024 were from conversion opportunities. So, it’s no surprise that the 1 millionth open room in the U.S. for the company, at the Canal House of Georgetown, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel in Washington, D.C., came via today's most popular route. 

Anthony Capuano, president and CEO of Marriott International, who has been on a whirlwind 28-day trip around the globe, spent his first day back in the U.S. in nearly a month attending an event at the hotel on Tuesday.

During the ceremony at the hotel, Capuano said the Canal House is a great representation of the milestone.

“I can’t think of a better property to reflect a million rooms here in the country,” he said. “Tribute, one of our fastest-growing platforms, is the perfect brand to represent one million rooms here in the U.S. This hotel represents everything we try to accomplish with Tribute.”

(left to right); Marriott's Anthony Capuano, Douglas Development's Normal Jemal and TPG's Ben Perelmuter during the ceremony.

Norman Jemal, senior managing principal of Washington, D.C.-based Douglas Development, which owns the hotel, said it was an adaptive reuse of an office building they have been involved for about 30 years but more recently stood empty. The project also includes two adjacent historic townhomes.

“We looked at the various options that were on the table for us and going the route of a hotel here was the best option. We evaluated the options with brands and felt that the Tribute fit very well with the marketplace,” Jemal said. 

The hotel sits next door to the Ritz-Carlton Georgetown and is near the Rosewood Washington D.C. Jemal said the hotel is seeking those same kind of customers that may want a better price point.

He added that there were no unpleasant surprises with the adaptive reuse project and it was “definitely one of the easier projects we’ve worked on.” The hotel opened in late February and Jemal said it’s ahead of plan so far.

We were leaning heavily on making it an independent, but when we went to get the debt was so much easier affiliating with Tribute by Marriott for the lender… because they felt a lot more secure.

Tim Muir

Share this quote

McKinney, Texas-based TPG Hotels & Resorts is managing the hotel and has been involved with the development for the past few years. Tim Muir, chief development officer for TPG, said the biggest challenge of the adaptive reuse was taking the existing building and converting it to the standards for Marriott and its soft brand Tribute. Then, it was trying to make the numbers work in an inflationary environment.

“It’s an adaptive reuse. So, we run numbers and then numbers go up. So, it was a challenge,” he said. “Then, we made sure we could get everything through the city, which probably took maybe a year and a half.”

Muir said securing the debt also took the better part of a year. “We were leaning heavily on making it an independent, but when we went to get the debt it was so much easier affiliating with Tribute by Marriott for the lender… because they felt a lot more secure,” he said.

Ben Perelmuter, president and COO of TPG, said affiliating with the Tribute soft brand allows for more flexibility and creativity.

“Not all Tributes look alike, and so you’re not going to see a library like this in every single Tribute,” he said. “This just ties in with the local appeal of Georgetown, and to have the properties next door to it that are attached -- that’s like having an experience of owning a brownstone.”