NYC’s Eastern Emerald gets green light: New York-based real estate asset management company Fleet Financial Group has received the go-ahead on its plans for Eastern Emerald, a new high-end hotel and residential development in Corona, Queens, near La Guardia airport. The 25-story property will have a 145,900 square foot hotel with a ballroom, auditorium, multiple terraces, and an outdoor pool. The project is scheduled to be completed in 2024.
McKibbon picks up 7: Tampa, Florida-based McKibbon Hospitality has entered into a new partnership with commercial real estate firm, Liberty Group, also based in Tampa. As Liberty Group shifts its focus to development, real estate, and asset management, the company will transition management of its remaining seven hotels to McKibbon. The seven hotels include Fairfield Inn & Suites Ft. Pierce, Hampton Inn & Suites Cape Coral, Hampton Inn Norfolk/Virginia Beach, Hampton Inn Ormond Beach, Hampton Inn & Suites Tampa East, Hampton Inn Vero Beach, and Hampton Inn & Suites Lady Lake/The Villages — all Florida-based. An additional hotel development project, Home2 Suites Lady Lake/The Villages, recently broke ground and will be managed by McKibbon upon its completion in summer 2022.
High-end Hyatt for Helsinki: Helsinki developer Ylva will turn three historic buildings in the Finnish capital into a high-end Hyatt hotel, according to reporting from Global Construction Review. The contract is worth €47 million (US$57 million), according to the Swedish construction company Skanska, who will be working on the project. The 224-room Grand Hansa Hotel was first announced by Hyatt before the pandemic in December 2019. At the time, the company said it would be the first “The Unbound Collection by Hyatt” branded property in the Nordics. The buildings will undergo renovations, which includes a large ground-floor space for food, beverage and conference facilities while still retaining the façades, the oldest of which dates to 1910.
Hundreds of hotels in Bali, India for sale: Listings indicate that hundreds of hotels in Bali and at least 50 hotels in Dharamsala, India, are up for sale, as low occupancy persists during the pandemic’s second year. In Bali, the listings include hotels like Kuta Paradiso Hotel on Jl. Kartika Plaza marketed at IDR875 billion (US$61 million) and Swiss-Belhotel Rainforest on Jl. Sunset Road at IDR250 billion (US$17.5 million). The sales appear to be just another example of the extent to which COVID-19 has impacted India’s and Bali’s economy, which is still largely dependent on tourism.
Pile your plate while you can: Starting in July 2021, Hilton Gold and Diamond members will not receive complimentary continental breakfast at U.S. Hilton hotels. Instead, Hilton will replace the benefit with a daily food and beverage credit that will vary from hotel to hotel. (Luxury brands, like Waldorf Astoria, will still have complimentary breakfast.) Though the change only applies to U.S. hotels through the end of the year, it remains to be seen what kind of effect the loss of the breakfast will have on loyal guests. The Hilton Honors program is historically one of the most generous complimentary breakfasts out there, even going so far as to extend it to mid-tier Gold members who get their status by way of a credit card.
Oregon says ‘prove it’: Oregon is now the first state in U.S. to require proof of vaccination to go maskless in businesses. (This also applies to workplaces and churches.) The move is a statewide one and critics say this will only add additional burdens on employees. Last week, when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gave the go ahead for vaccinated people to ditch their face masks, many states then used that guidance as a thumbs up to do away with their mask requirements for vaccinated people. Since then, business leaders have been vocal about their concerns of the requirement to show proof of vaccination.
Update on Four Seasons in Cabo: California-based owner-developer Oakmont Corp. and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts reported on Monday that the residences at the new Four Seasons Resort and Residences Cabo San Lucas Del Sol already secured more than US$100 million in reservations from its initial, private pre-sale launch. The property also marked the beginning of construction of a 96-room resort and the 61 branded residences. The project lies on 50 beachfront acres and will resemble a low-density seaside village with clusters of two-story buildings when it opens in mid-2023. The Four Seasons Resort will include 74 guest rooms and casitas, 17 suites and five villas. The private villas and residences include two- to five-bedroom layouts with up to 5,600 square feet and start at US$4.8 million.
US vaccination update: At least 25 states, plus Washington, D.C., have now fully vaccinated at least half of their adult residents, according to reporting from CNN. Those states are Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. The impact has been immediate, with many schools returning to in-person learning in the fall and updated return-to-work protocols that allow employees to forgo wearing masks.
Restrictions drop Lima’s occupancy: Recent COVID-19 restrictions pushed Lima’s hotel occupancy down after the market reached a six-month high in April, according to STR. After not reaching the 60% level since October 30, Lima’s occupancy surpassed that on five separate days in April, including a high of 64%. Most recently, the market has been below 50% and dropped to a low of 25.7% on May 16. Lima’s 47.4% occupancy level for April was well below the long-term average in the market, which included marks of 60.8% in in April 2019 and 74.9% in April 2018. ADR is even further behind in the recovery timeline, coming in at PEN47.29 (US$13) in April 2021 after levels of PEN126.23 (US$34) in 2019 and PEN157.62 (US$42) in 2018. This comes out of the strong discounts hoteliers had to make with group contracts for mining and other industries.
Construction on this US$236M hotel restarts: Auckland, New Zealand-based developer Precinct Properties will commence building a AUD$305 million (US$236 million) InterContinental hotel and office building, integrated into its Commercial Bay project on the Auckland waterfront. The 21-level hotel and offices was put on hold a year ago.