Latest news: Famed Stanford Court in trouble; notable refis in Manhattan and Dallas

SF's Stanford Court in trouble. Lender Deutsche Bank AG is suing Michael Rosenfeld and Los Angeles-based Pine & Powell Partners for defaulting on a loan for the 400-key Stanford Court hotel in San Francisco. The lawsuit accuses Rosenfeld and his company of multiple defaults on financing and refusing to repair elevators ahead of a major conference next month. The suit seeks to appoint a receiver for the property as part of a foreclosure proceeding, which would allow Deutsche Bank AG to take control of the hotel and potentially pursue a private sale. It’s just the latest in series of financially troubled San Francisco hotel assets.

GFI Capital’s $195M refinancing in Manhattan. New York City-based GFI Capital has secured a $195 million refinance for the 287-key The Beekman, A Thompson Hotel in Manhattan. Access Point Financial provided the financing and Eastdil acted as an advisor for the sponsor. GFI renovated the luxury lifestyle hotel from the historic Temple Court building.

NXDT $95M refinance in Dallas. Dallas-based REIT NexPoint Diversified Real Estate Trust (NXDT) and its partner, Dallas-based Alamo Manhattan, have successfully refinanced the 255-key Marriott Dallas Uptown in the Uptown area of Dallas. The $95 million financing includes $87.5 million in initial loan proceeds for the property’s outstanding debt, as well as two future-funded earnout facilities that provide potential to access $7.5 million in additional capital. KKR provided the financing via its opportunistic real estate credit strategy. The transaction produces approximately $19 million in cash proceeds for NXDT and Alamo Manhattan collectively, with NXDT’s share at roughly $15 million. Additionally, if exercised, the $7.5 million of earnout facilities allow NXDT to access approximately $6.5 million in cash proceeds on future draws. The 14-story hotel opened in 2021 and is majority-owned by NXDT through AM Uptown Hotel LLC.

Minnesota assets refinanced. TPI Hospitality, Willmar, Minnesota, has secured $70.4 million to refinance a 770-key, seven-hotel portfolio of premium-branded hotels in the greater Twin Cities submarkets of Maple Grove/Arbor Lakes and North Metro in Minnesota. RobertDouglas secured the floating-rate debt with an institutional balance sheet lender.

New branded residence in Florida. Miami-based Related Group and Aventura, Florida-based BH Group are partnering with the Highgate-owned Viceroy brand on the 274-room Viceroy Residences Aventura in Aventura. This will be the first branded residence in the city and is Related’s second collaboration with Viceroy.

Musk buying DC hotel. Elon Musk is slated to be the highest bidder for Washington D.C.’s Line hotel, according to Eater Washington D.C. According to the story, Musk plans to turn the 220-key hotel into a “private social club” of sorts. A public auction for the former church is scheduled for January 23. Musk is poised to lead the newly named Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for the new Trump administration.

New Hyatt president for all-inclusive. Hyatt Hotels Corp. appointed Javier Águila president, Inclusive Collection, effective March 1. This job will be in addition to Águila’s current role as group president, EAME, overseeing Hyatt’s Europe, Africa and the Middle East region. He came to Hyatt through the acquisition of Apple Leisure Group in 2021 and in his expanded role, he will oversee all aspects of Hyatt’s global all-inclusive business. 

Resolute adds in Washington. Boise, Idaho-based Resolute Road Hospitality has signed a strategic partnership with JMA Ventures to manage the 375-key DoubleTree by Hilton Spokane City Center in Spokane, Washington. The addition of this property expands Resolute Road’s footprint to eight states across the United States.

IHG adds in Germany. IHG Hotels & Resorts continues its growth in Germany with the signing of 134-key Holiday Inn Ratingen, in the wider Düsseldorf area, in partnership with multi-hotel operator tristar GmbH. After a full renovation, the hotel is scheduled to reopen in the second half of 2025. Through Q3 2024, IHG has 220 open and pipeline hotels in Germany, with more than 140 of these properties under the Holiday Inn Brand Family.

Accor debuts Mövenpick in Greece. Accor has signed the 67-key Mövenpick Resort Agios Nikolaos Sivota, which will mark the brand’s debut in Greece. Scheduled to open in Spring 2025, the resort will be operated by Pitoulis S.A, one of Greece’s leading hospitality operators. Other recent Mövenpick entries in Europe include the 172-key Mövenpick Hotel Winter Park Baku in Azerbaijan, the 103-key Mövenpick Brussels Airport in Belgium and the 186-key Mövenpick Hotel Sarajevo in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Taco Bell CEO named to Marriott board. Marriott International has named Sean Tresvant, CEO of Taco Bell Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc., as an independent director for its board, effective February 12. Before joining Taco Bell, Tresvant spent over 15 years at Nike, culminating in the role of chief marketing officer for the Jordan Brand. He also held positions at Sports Illustrated and PepsiCo. With the election of Tresvant, the Marriott board will expand to 13 directors, 10 of whom are independent.

New CEO for Minor Europe and Americas. Gonzalo Aguilar has assumed the role of CEO at Minor Hotels Europe & Americas, effective January 1. Aguilar joined Minor Hotels in October 2024 and succeeds former CEO Ramón Aragonés, who retired at the end of 2024 and continues to serve as a member of the board and non-executive vice president. Aguilar has over 30 years of hospitality experience, most recently as COO for Europe at Marriott. Aguilar’s appointment will be formalized at the Minor’s shareholders meeting on June 30.

IHG adding Garner in Japan. IHG is adding three Garner hotels in Japan, marking a significant milestone as Garner expands into Asia Pacific and the brand is launched in Japan. The three new hotels - Garner Hotel Osaka Honmachi Station, Garner Hotel Osaka Honmachi Midosuji, and Garner Hotel Osaka Honmachi Kita Semba- are now open to guests in Japan’s second-largest city, Osaka.