HFF Arranges Sale and Financing for Hilton Tampa Downtown Hotel

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. (HFF) announced today that it has closed the sale and arranged acquisition financing for the Hilton Tampa Downtown, a 520-room, full-service hotel in the heart of downtown Tampa, Florida.

HFF marketed the property on behalf of the seller, CrossHarbor Capital Partners LLC. Walton Street Capital, L.L.C. purchased the asset. Additionally, working on behalf of the new owner, HFF placed the acquisition loan. In 2016, HFF brokered the sale and arranged acquisition financing of Hilton Tampa Downtown for the seller, who executed a multi-million-dollar property improvement plan that was completed in 2017.

Hilton Tampa Downtown was built in 1982 and fully renovated when it was converted from a Hyatt to a Hilton in 2013. The 18-story hotel features a rooftop pool and amenity deck, 24-hour fitness center, executive lounge, business center, 30,000 square feet of meeting space and three food and beverage outlets: 211 Lounge, 211 Restaurant and a full-service Starbucks. Situated on 5.6 acres at 211 North Tampa Street, the hotel is proximate to several demand generators, including the University of Tampa, Amalie Arena, Tampa General Hospital, the Florida Aquarium, the Port Tampa Cruise Terminal and 9.7 million square feet of office space in Tampa’s central business district. The hotel is also within walking distance to Water Street, the $3-billion, 50-acre mixed-use office, retail and multi-housing district now under construction that is being developed by Tampa Bay Lightning NHL team owner Jeff Vinik in partnership with Bill Gates’ Cascade Investments.

The HFF investment advisory team representing the seller was led by senior managing director and head of HFF’s hotel group, Daniel C. Peek, senior director Preston Reid and director Wyatt Krapf.

“It was a privilege to work with two great institutional investors on this transaction and to continue our legacy of involvement with one of the most significant hotels in the Tampa market,” Peek said.

“Tampa is no longer an up-and-coming city – it’s here,” Reid added. “The amount of investment from world-class, institutional investors continues to pour in for well-positioned, quality assets like the Hilton Tampa Downtown.”

The HFF debt placement team representing the borrower was led by senior managing director Michael Weinberg.

“There was strong interest in financing this asset due to the stellar sponsorship, robust cash flow and tremendous location,” Weinberg said. “This is Walton Street Capital’s second hospitality acquisition in downtown Tampa, and it was a pleasure representing them again.”