Atlas in the news

CoStar 08/13/18 San Diego, Orange Counties Join Statewide Drop in First-Half Hotel Deals Mid-Year Market Update: Both Regions Saw Property Sales Decline Despite Still-Strong Performance, Development By Lou Hirsh https://product.costar.com/home/news/shared/194298 On the heels of a record year of hotel sales, Southern California’s San Diego and Orange counties experienced sharp declines in the number and value of hospitality property sales completed in the first half of 2018, according to a new report. The two counties reflect the plunging sales pattern that has happened across nearly the entire state of California so far this year, even amid continued strong operating performance and development activity for hotels in local markets. The report from brokerage and research firm Atlas Hospitality Group cautions that this isn’t a sign of an industry in freefall. Instead, California hotels have a tough act to follow in 2018, since 2017 was a record year for hotel property sales. “In many respects, the drop in transactions shows the market taking a breather from the heights set in 2017,” the Atlas report said. “It very much remains a seller’s market.” Atlas Hospitality Group showed California posting a 35 percent drop in the number of hotels changing hands in the first six…

Los Angeles Times 08/16/18 Disney Promised a Luxury Hotel and Anaheim Offered $267 Million in Tax Breaks — but a Growing Feud Has Plans on Hold By Hugo Martin http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-disneyland-hotel-subsidy-20180815-story.html   Walt Disney Co. has put a hold on plans to build a luxury hotel in Disneyland Resort’s shopping district, citing a feud with Anaheim officials over tax subsidies that the Burbank media giant was expecting to get from operating the hotel. The dispute centers on a $267-million tax break that the Anaheim City Council approved in 2016 for a 700-room hotel — the fourth hotel at the Disneyland Resort and the first high-end property built in 20 years. But since the tax break was approved, Disney has changed the location of the hotel. The city now says the subsidy applies only to the project as it was proposed at the previous address. Disney says the project may not be financially viable without the tax break. “You have given us no other choice than to put construction of the hotel on indefinite hold as the resort reevaluates the economic viability of future hotel development in Anaheim,” according to a letter dated Wednesday from David Ontko, chief counsel for Disneyland Resorts,…

The Real Deal 08/13/18 LA Construction Costs Rise Above National Average: Report By Natalie Hoberman https://therealdeal.com/la/2018/08/13/la-construction-costs-rise-above-national-average-report Amid a climate of mammoth wildfires and tariff boosts to key construction materials, the cost to build in Los Angeles grew 5.07 percent in the last year, surpassing the growth in other metropolitan cities like Chicago and New York. In a second-quarter report published by Rider Levett Bucknall, a United Kingdom-based construction consultancy firm, L.A. ranked third on the list, trailing San Francisco and Portland. San Francisco logged a 6.93 percent hike year over year, while Portland’s costs grew 6.32 percent. Nationally, construction costs rose 4.7 percent on average within the last year, according to the study. It grew 1.18 percent from January to April. New York City, on the other hand, fell below the national average with only a 3.62 percent rise. Chicago’s costs grew 4.8 percent. To compile its survey, Rider Levett Bucknall tracks the cost of labor and materials, as well as general contractor and subcontractor fees. It also tracks estimates of current building costs in each respective market. Hospital building in L.A. is among the more costly endeavors, with costs reaching as high as $780 per square foot, according to…

HotelNewsNow 08/14/18 California’s Hotel Sales Dip Doesn’t Tell Whole Story By Bryan Wroten http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/288876/Californias-hotel-sales-dip-doesnt-tell-whole-story   IRVINE, California—The number of individual hotels sold in California during the first half of 2018 dropped by 35% year over year, according to Atlas Hospitality Group’s midyear California Hotel Sales Survey. During the first six months of 2018, there were 134 individual sales, down from 206 from the first half of 2017, making it the third lowest total recorded in the past 10 years. While the total dollar volume declined by 28%, the median price per room increased by 11%. Sacramento and San Francisco counties were the only submarkets that had an increase in the number of sales. Despite the drop in pace and volume, Atlas President Alan Reay said there’s no need to worry too much about comparing 2018 numbers to the record year that was 2017. The transaction market in California appears to be normalizing, he said. Reay outlined five points to keep in mind about the latest California hotel sales numbers. 1. A 35% sales drop isn’t necessarily bad While the drop-off since the pace in 2017 “has been extreme,” Reay said he would avoid looking too much into it. Last year…

The Daily Transcript 08/10/18 Hotel Transaction Volume Plummets After Record 2017 By Thor Biberman The 169-room La Quinta Inn & Suites at 641 Camino del Rio South in Mission Valley sold for $19.5 million at the beginning of 2018 The buyer was Kamla Hotels of Cerritos. Hotel transaction volume in San Diego County decreased by more than 41 percent and the total dollar sales volume plummeted by nearly 77 percent during the first half of 2018, according to an Atlas Hospitality Group report. The transaction dollar sales volume of hotel and motel sales declined from $372.1 million in the first half of 2017 to just $86.21 million through June this year. In past years, there often were single hotel sales that exceeded the $86 million. The total number of hotel rooms involved in first-half sales amounted to just 801, marking a decrease of 46.3 percent from the same period last year. The median hotel sales price declined by 30.9 percent year-over-year to $3.11 million. With much lower-priced transactions, the median price per room in San Diego County declined about 58 percent from $117,188 through June of 2017 to just $49,017 through the first half of this year. Atlas Hospitality president…

The Daily Transcript 07/24/18 Hotel Construction on Pace to Set Record in 2018 By Thor Kamban Biberman Hotel construction in California continued at a very strong pace through the first half of 2018, compared to a year ago — a condition expected to continue as long as the economy holds up. “2017 was a record-breaking year for California hotel development, and as we predicted, 2018 is on pace to eclipse it,” said Alan Reay, president of Atlas Hospitality Group. Twenty-six hotels opened in the first half of both 2017 and 2018, while other metrics went up substantially between the two years. The number of hotels under construction increased 41 percent to 183, and the number of new rooms under construction went up 42 percent to 25,872 in 2018. The number of planned new hotels and rooms in the state increased by 24 percent and 20 percent, respectively. There were 959 California hotels in the planning stages midway through 2018, versus 773 last year. Rooms in planning went from 113,973 to 136,706. San Diego County added four hotels and 627 rooms in the first half of this year. The largest was the 250-room Legoland Castle Hotel in Carlsbad. The others were…

Orange County Business Journal 08/09/18 Hotel Sales Down 50% YTD By Paul Hughes https://www.ocbj.com/news/2018/aug/09/hotel-sales-down-50-ytd/   Eight hotels with 955 rooms sold in Orange County through the first six months of the year, compared to 16 hotels with 1,803 rooms, year-over-year, according to Atlas Hospitality Group in Irvine. The broker-consultant’s data show dollar volume of local deals declined 59% in the same period, to $153 million from $372 million. Last year’s total included a $125 million transaction for the former Fairmont Hotel, now rebranded as Renaissance Newport Beach following a $32 million renovation. The priciest of the eight that sold was the 376-room Wyndham in Garden Grove, which went for $61 million. The average sale price fell 18% to $19 million and the average price-per-room was flat at $203,000. The median sale price rose 11% to $8.8 million and the median price-per-room fell 21$ to $106,000. Statewide hotel sales fell by a third—134 compared with 206—which was the third-lowest total in a decade. Dollar volume declined 28% to $2.3 billion, from $3.2 billion The mid-year sales report is a companion compilation to the broker-consultant’s development survey, released in July, which showed hotel planning and construction year-to-date continuing at a pace similar…

HotelNewsNow 08/09/18 5 Things to Know: Atlas Survey Shows California Hotel Transactions Down http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/288811/5-things-to-know-9-August-2018 Atlas survey shows California hotel transactions down: Through the first six months of 2018, California’s hotel market saw a 35% decline in the number of hotels sold, according to Atlas Hospitality Group’s mid-year California hotel sales survey. The survey reports there were 134 single-asset sales in the first half of 2018, versus 206 during the same period in 2017. The number of sales was the lowest it’s been in 10 years, the survey points out. The total dollar volume also dropped (-28%) despite an increase (+11%) in median price per room. “Only two major California submarkets saw an increase in the number of sales: Sacramento and San Francisco counties. Sonoma County showed the largest decline, with no hotel sales through the first half of the year,” the survey states.

San Diego Business Journal 08/07/18 Hotel Industry Is Building on Its Solid Metrics By Mariel Concepcion https://www.sdbj.com/news/2018/aug/07/hotel-industry-building-its-solid-metrics/   San Diego — On paper, San Diego doesn’t look very good as far as the hotel industry is concerned. It only has two Fortune 500 companies (energy company Sempra Energy and chip-maker Qualcomm Inc.), which means not a lot of corporate travel coming in and going out of the city, thus, less business-trip-related hotel bookings. And, with limited overseas flights until recently, there has not been a lot of international travel to account for, either. But, that isn’t stopping San Diego and its tourism industry stakeholders from taking full advantage of what the county does offer, like great weather, tons of tourist sites and a plethora of corporate spaces, including the San Diego Convention Center. As a result, the demand for hotel rooms continues to rise and supply continues to increase with the construction and opening of new hotels up and down the coast, setting 2018 to be yet another chart-topping year in hotel development for the county. The Properties According to Atlas Hospitality Group, in the first half of 2017, 26 hotels opened in San Diego, and 130 hotels and 18,271…

The Press-Enterprise 08/01/18 Does Riverside County Need 71 More Hotels? By Jonathan Lansner https://www.pe.com/2018/08/01/does-riverside-county-need-71-more-hotels/   Riverside County got two new hotels so far this year with 71 more in the works. And Riverside County isn’t alone. Regionally, 11 hotels just opened and 472 are in some stage of development, according to Atlas Hospitality’s first-half summary of the hotel construction scene. Here are five Riverside County hotel trends to know … 1. New: Two openings with 337 rooms — Courtyard Murrieta Riverside with 183 rooms and Hotel Paseo in Palm Desert with 154 rooms. 2. Compared to: Three openings with 411 rooms last year. 3. Building: 15 hotels under construction vs. 10 a year ago — up 50 percent. Rooms being built total 2,196 — a 18.7 percent jump. 4. Drawing board: 56 hotels planned vs. 52 a year ago — up 8 percent. Rooms in planning total 9,370 — off 4 percent. 5. Current results: CBRE Hotels reports room rates in the western Inland Empire rose 4.4 percent in a year to $123 a night as 78.5 percent of rooms were full vs. 77.6 percent a year earlier.

Successful Meetings 07/30/18 Survey Finds Booming Hotel Development in San Diego By Mat Alderton http://www.successfulmeetings.com/news/destinations/west/hotel-development-surges-in-san-diego/

HotelNewsNow 07/31/18 LA Projects, Brands Lead H1 2018 California Development By Sean McCracken http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Articles/288600/LA-projects-brands-lead-H1-2018-California-development   LOS ANGELES—California remains one of the hottest areas for hotels in the U.S. Alan Reay, president of Atlas Hospitality Group, said he’s blown away by the continued strong pace of development in the state. “We’ve not seen numbers like this in the 20 years we’ve been tracking in California,” he said, referencing his company’s recently released midyear 2018 development survey. “It’s nothing short of phenomenal.” According to that survey, the first half of 2018 saw a 41% year-over-year increase in hotels under construction, up to 183 from 130, with rooms up 42% from 18,271 to 25,872. But while the numbers are clearly noteworthy and a sign of the continued strong metrics in the state, there are obviously concerns attached. “You’re always concerned in the back of your mind about oversupply,” Reay said. 1. Los Angeles keeps up blazing pace Los Angeles County continued to see significant hotel construction and openings through the first half of the year. Four hotels with a combined 727 rooms opened in the period, the largest of which was the 288-room Sheraton Los Angeles San Gabriel. There are 37 hotels with…