Latest news: Baha Mar addition; new leader for HSH; Garner grows in Europe

BD secures loan for W. Palm Beach. BD Hotels has secured a $75 million construction loan for The Nora Hotel, the 201-key boutique hotel within West Palm Beach, Florida’s Nora District. Metropolitan Commercial Bank provided the financing. The Nora District is a $1 billion pedestrian-friendly hospitality destination developed in partnership with NDT Development, Place Projects and Wheelock Street Capital. Phase I of Nora, which will include over 150,000 square feet of adaptive reuse and new development, broke ground in June 2023 and is slated for completion in early 2025. The Nora Hotel marks the first venture outside of New York City for BD Hotels and the second collaboration between BD Hotels and Wheelock Street Capital, after the relaunch of Hotel Chelsea in 2023.

Fourth resort for Baha Mar. Luxury resort Baha Mar on Cable Beach in the Bahamas plans to add a $350 million resort with residences as the next phase of its continued development. The fourth property at Baha Mar will be situated on 12 beachfront acres and feature approximately 350 rooms and 50 luxury branded residences. It will be built on the site of the recently demolished Melia Nassau Beach, which closed in 2021. The property will be priced between the existing SLS and Rosewood hotels. With a grounding breaking in 2026 and projected opening in 2029, the brand and the operating partner will be announced at a later date.

More financing for Miami Beach development. Developers Terra and Turnberry Land have finally won approval for a $75 million, taxpayer-funded grant to overcome a funding gap for a reported $590 million Grand Hyatt hotel next to the Miami Beach Convention Center. Construction on the 17-story, 800-room property is expected to commence next year. He developers have named Arquitectonica to design the hotel, which will feature 12 floors of guest rooms, two floors of meeting spaces and ballrooms, a pool deck on the fifth floor and ground-floor retail space.

New leader for Peninsula parent. The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, owner and operator of The Peninsula Hotels, has named Benjamin Vuchot to succeed Clement King Man Kwok as executive director and CEO effective March 3, 2025. Vuchot will also be appointed as a member of the Executive Committee, Finance Committee and the Group Management Board and a director of some of the group’s entities. Vuchot has over 30 years’ experience in the luxury retail business with two global leading groups, Richemont and LVMH. Kwok will be stepping down on October 31, 2024, and will remain on the Board until the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting of 2025. Christobelle Yi Ching Liao, executive director and chief corporate and governance officer, will be appointed as the interim CEO and a member of the Executive Committee and the Finance Committee from November 1, 2024, until March 2, 2025.

Garner adds 4 in Europe. IHG Hotels & Resorts has signed four new Garner properties, extending the brand’s presence across the U.K. and Europe. The 53-room Garner Hotel Reading Centre is set to open late 2024, following an extensive refurbishment in partnership with Nilvip Hotels. The 80-room Garner Hotel Preston Samlesbury is scheduled to open later in 2024, in partnership with KRO Hospitality. In partnership with Novum Hospitality, Garner will also debut in Vienna, with a 106-room hotel, and in Maastricht in the Netherlands with a 165-room hotel. Garner will open in Türkiye with a 126-room property in Istanbul, slated to open in 2025 in partnership with FRT Turizm and support by AB Consulting. The brand has seen 76 properties signed in the first half of 2024, with 58 of those coming to IHG’s Europe market.

IHCL adds resort in Prayagraj. Indian Hotels Co. Ltd. has signed a resort deal in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, India. This greenfield project will be developed under the Gateway brand. The 150-key Gateway Prayagraj will feature a gym, swimming pool and spa, as well as more than 5,000 sq. ft. of banquet space. The city is also an emerging corporate hub due to the presence of the Allahabad High Court and several educational institutions.