Latest news: NUMA buys aparthotel brand; Crescent gets big VA deal; Hilton-SLH deal live

Crescent to manage JW mixed-use project in Virginia. Crescent Hotels & Resorts has entered into a management agreement with an affiliate of Comstock Holding Companies for the 243-room JW Marriott at Reston Station, scheduled to open in mid-2025. The new hotel, Virginia’s first JW Marriott and only the second in the Washington, D.C. region, will anchor the latest phase of development at Comstock’s Reston Station, the mixed-use and transit-oriented neighborhood in the Dulles Corridor. Above the hotel will be 94 JW Marriott-branded condominiums that recently opened for sale. Comstock appointed Marriott International as the condominium manager pursuant to a long-term brand management agreement.

Native Place Edinburgh

NUMA buys Native Places. London-based NUMA Group has acquired the 800-unit-plus, lifestyle aparthotel brand Native Places from Native Holdings for an undisclosed price. Native Holdings’ Native Residential business was not part of the deal. Native Places assets range from small to medium-scale serviced apartment buildings in London under the brand of The Apartment Collection to larger-scale Native Apart Hotels in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow. NUMA Group recently reached €2 billion in real estate assets under management and manages over 6,500 rooms and apartments across 34 major cities in 14 European countries. Olivia Immesi, who joined Native Places as managing director in 2021 and was appointed the CEO in 2023, will maintain her leadership role as the company joins the NUMA Group. Immesi previously worked on the launch of the original Hoxton and Ace Hotel London.

Driftwood adds Kentucky. Driftwood Hospitality Management will assume management of the Canopy by Hilton Downtown Louisville, a $75 million, 168-key hotel scheduled for completion in Q4 2024. The hotel is being developed by New York-based Zyyo, which acquired the site in 2020, and Minnesota-based TruVine Companies. Zyyo is also serving as the project’s architect and construction manager, with Louisville-based Bellé Noble Entertainment Group designated as the hotel’s food & beverage operator.

Investors divest in Paris Best Western. ISTAR, a club-deal between French institutional investor Extendam and a group of private investors, managed by French investment managers Centaurus, formerly Paris Inn Group, has divested its stake in the 33-room Best Western Premier Opera Opal in Paris, France, for between €19.8 million (€600,000 per room) and €23.1 million (€700,000 per room), according to HVS. The hotel was acquired in 2017 by the club-deal, following the raising of €11 million (€333,000 per room).

Las Vegas deal. Irvine, California-based Greens Development has purchased the 202-room Hyatt Place Las Vegas. The seller and price have not been disclosed Hunter Hotel Advisors represented the institutional seller.

Vignette Collection to Kazakhstan. IHG Hotels & Resorts (IHG) has signed its first Vignette Collection in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The property will become IHG’s second luxury and lifestyle hotel in Kazakhstan, joining InterContinental Almaty. The 95-room Vignette Collection property was signed under a franchise agreement with Meliora (part of HAYAT Construction). Expected to open in the first half of 2027, the property forms part of the Meliora mixed-used development, built by Hayat Construction. IHG’s Vignette Collection in Europe stands at three open hotels and seven in the pipeline. There are now 12 Vignette Collection hotels open around the world with a further 23 in the pipeline.

Hilton-SLH partnership live. Starting on July 9, nearly 400 Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH) properties have become available on all Hilton direct booking channels. Through an exclusive partnership between the two hotel companies, members of Hilton Honors can earn and redeem points for SLH stays. Since the announcement in February, 390 SLH properties have opted to join into the partnership with Hilton stating more hotels are expected to be added as the SLH and Hilton relationship grows.

New F&B operator for Freehand. London-based Freehand Hospitality is bringing in New York City-based Authentic Hospitality as an operating partner for its Broken Shaker F&B concept. Authentic Hospitality will begin with design refreshments to the Broken Shaker New York, followed by Miami and then across the portfolio. The group officially took over the venues July 1. The group began working as consultants with Freehand Hotels in 2018 when they opened Smile to Go, and in 2021 continued with management of Freehand New York’s cocktail bar, events space and nightlife destination. Freehand parent company, Generator, owned by Queensgate Investments, acquired Freehand Hotels and Broken Shaker in 2019.