Atlas in the news

December 10, 2023 |  Bianca Barragán The Los Angeles City Council last week finalized a deal that removes a measure from the March 2024 ballot that would have required hotels across the city to offer vacant rooms to unhoused Angelenos and replaces it with a series of new regulations to the approval process for new hotels.  Hotel trade groups embraced the new regulations as a favorable alternative to what had been proposed. But others in the industry expressed concern over the implications of these new regulations, in addition to preexisting macroeconomic conditions, on new hotel development.  A release from the Hotel Association of Los Angeles called the removal of the original measure and the concurrent approval of the replacement regulations a victory for Los Angeles and its hospitality community. The initial measure would have thrust hotel employees onto the front lines of a citywide crisis in asking hotels to provide shelter to unhoused populations, the organization said. “This solution ensures that our hotel community is thriving and able to continue providing excellent careers and economic benefits to our iconic neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles,” Hotel Association of Los Angeles President and CEO Heather Rozman said in a statement.  New regulations would require new hotel developments to replace any…

November 30, 2023 | Bianca Barragán, Southern California  It’s hard out there for Los Angeles-area hoteliers, but many are steadfast in their belief that better times are just around the corner — for those that can hang on.  Atlas Hospitality Group President Alan Reay told the audience at Bisnow’s Los Angeles Hospitality Summit at the Omni Hotel and Resort Los Angeles that year-to-date, Los Angeles County hotel sales are down nearly 80% compared to the same period in 2022. Just 17 hotels have sold so far this year, in stark contrast to the 79 that traded in the same period last year. “There’s only ever been one time that we’ve seen such a decline like that, and that was back in 2009,” Reay said.  That slowdown in transactions is keeping a vicious cycle rolling.  “The problem with underwriting in LA today is that you don’t have an exit that you can underwrite,” said Adrienne Jubb, Aimbridge Hospitality senior vice president of development and acquisitions. “It’s hard to get investors excited about LA because of the lack of exits,” Jubb added.  Panelists touched on “social issues,” such as the growing unhoused population, as another headwind facing Los Angeles.  “Branding is very important,” The Athens Group Chief Operating Officer Jay…

326-key hospitality property stands about a mile from Disneyland and opened in 2020 By Isabella Farr |NOV 20, 2023, 5:00 PM BPM Real Estate Group has defaulted on a $127 million loan tied to an Anaheim hotel project, The Real Deal has learned.  BPM, based in Portland, used the loan to build the 12-story, 326-key Viv Hotel at 1601 South Anaheim Boulevard. But as of Nov. 1, BPM owed about $145 million under the construction loan, according to a notice of default filed with Orange County.  BPM did not respond to a request for comment. Miami-based commercial lender 3650 REIT provided a $115 million senior construction loan for the project in 2018, a release at the time said, shortly after the developer scored entitlements to build the hotel.  BPM opened the hotel in 2020 — originally under the Radisson Blu brand — but needed more money. The loan from 3650 REIT was upsized in September 2022 to $127 million, according to the default notice.  Under California law, a foreclosure for the property can be scheduled no earlier than Feb. 11. BPM can legally sell the property before a foreclosure takes place.  The hotel, now called the Viv, is located about a mile from…

Signia Hilton plans new restaurant, lounge, other other amenities at downtown San Jose hotel By GEORGE AVALOS | gavalos@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News GroupPUBLISHED: November 20, 2023 at 11:20 a.m. | UPDATED: November 20, 2023 at 1:34 p.m. SAN JOSE — A landmark downtown San Jose hotel is poisedto benefit from the sale of one of its two towers for San Jose State Universitystudent housing — and a new restaurant, lounge and other amenities are also inthe works after the $73.1 million deal. The Signia by Hilton San Jose, now a 541-room hotel, is eyeing significantupgrades in the wake of a deal whereby the Throckmorton real estate firm boughtthe hotel’s former southern tower as a crucial step to transform the high-riseinto housing for SJSU students. SJSU will lease the southern tower fromThrockmorton. Mill Valley-based Throckmorton Partners, acting through an affiliate, paid$73.1million to buy the southern tower of the Signia by Hilton San Jose,documents filed on Nov. 17 at the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office show.Throckmorton bought the southern tower through an all-cash deal. The hotel, which was formerly the Fairmont and is now owned by a group headedup by Bay Area business executive Sam Hirbod, has a greatly improved occupancylevel…

By Nellie Day | Nov 20, 2023 8:00am There are many who would argue that San Francisco’s facing an image problem. Alan X. Reay, president of Newport Beach, Calif.-based Atlas Hospitality Group, which specializes in the sale of California hotels, would be one of them. “The city has to completely change the perception of the rampant crime and homelessness,” he says. “It has been covered extensively in the press and on TV, and is a huge negative for tourism and, more so, for anyone planning a convention or meeting.” Some might argue it’s a huge negative for current and would-be hotel investors as well. Trepp released a report in August that analyzed how San Francisco’s crime has impacted the city’s businesses and commercial real estate, hospitality included. The report notes that 90 percent of the city’s property crimes take place in Union Square, South of Market (SoMa), Fisherman’s Wharf and Japantown, in that order. “Out of all the identified high-crime locations, more than 65.1 percent experienced stagnating business growth or even losses,” the report states. “This finding indicates that the majority of locations with declining businesses are surrounded by high-crime areas, emphasizing the detrimental effects of persistent crime on business vitality.” The…

By: BRYNN SHAFFER | OCTOBER 23, 2023 It’s been six months since Measure ULA went into effect, and one thing is certain: sales volumes are dramatically down. In addition, many developers are looking to do more work outside of Los Angeles because of it.  Enacted on April 1, Measure ULA, which stands for United to House L.A., is a tax on all real estate sold at or above $5 million in the city of Los Angeles, which includes most of the San Fernando Valley. The tax received 58% voter support to pay for new homeless support, requiring sellers of properties valued at $5 million to $10 million to pay a 4% tax to the city and sellers of properties at or above $10 million to pay 5.5%. “A lot of owners who would be potential sellers aren’t selling,” Greg Geraci, an executive vice president at Colliers and a Valley industrial specialist, said. Proponents of ULA dubbed it the “mansion tax,” arguing that it would essentially take from the rich and give to the poor, but the tax is much more complex than that and affects all types of real estate. Its passage has tanked sales across all asset types, with commercial properties such…

BY BRYNN SHAFFER | OCTOBER 16, 2023 It’s been six months since Measure ULA went into effect, and one thing is already certain: sales volume is dramatically down, and many local developers are looking to do more work outside of Los Angeles because of the measure.  Enacted on April 1, Measure ULA, which stands for United to House L.A., is a tax on all real estate sold at or above $5 million in the city of Los Angeles. The tax received 58% of voter support to pay for new homeless support, requiring sellers of properties valued at $5 million to $10 million to pay a 4% tax to the city and sellers of properties at or above $10 million to pay 5.5%. “I think ULA was a real mistake and is materially impacting the ability of people to build new housing,” said Sean Burton, chief executive of Cityview, a multifamily investment management and development firm based in Century City. Proponents of ULA dubbed it the “mansion tax,” arguing that it would essentially take from the rich and give to the poor, but the tax is much more complex than that and affects all types of real estate. It has impacted sales across…

Bay Area hotel sales have tumbled into a slump By GEORGE AVALOS | gavalos@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group PUBLISHED: October 3, 2023 at 9:25 a.m. | UPDATED: October 4, 2023 at 6:59 a.m. SAN JOSE — A hotel along a light rail line in San Jose has landed local buyers, a reminder that some hotel sales are happening even in the face of a feeble Bay Area lodging market. Caravelle Inn & Suites, a hotel at 1310 North First Street, was purchased for $3.8 million, according to documents filed on Sept. 2 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office. The 50-room, two-story hotel is near the interchange of Interstate 880 and North First Street. The San Jose-based ownership group, which operates as District Eleven LLC, bought the property through an all-cash deal, the county records show. This transaction marks one of the few hotel purchases in the Bay Area so far in 2023 — and one of the very few in Santa Clara County. During the first six months of 2023, only eight hotels were bought in the Bay Area, including two in Santa Clara County, according to a survey by Atlas Hospitality Group, which tracks the lodging market in California.Of the two hotels that were…

Hotel shows upswing in guests after $60 million revamp By GEORGE AVALOS | gavalos@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group PUBLISHED: September 28, 2023 at 5:30 a.m. | UPDATED: September 28, 2023 at 1:59 p.m. SAN JOSE — A big hotel in San Jose has received financial boosts from its lender this year, hopeful indicators that the lodging facility has begun to recover from coronavirus-linked economic woes. The Signia by Hilton San Jose hotel in downtown San Jose during 2023 has landed two increases in the principal amount of its real estate loan, documents on file at the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office show. The financing boosts that the lender, an affiliate of Brightspire Capital, provided to the Signia by Hilton offer strong signals that the financier is confident in the prospects for the hotel at 170 South Market Street, in the view of Sam Hirbod, principal owner of the hotel property. “Our lender recognized the great amount of equity that we have and continue to build in the Signia,” Hirbod said in an interview with this news organization. “This is why they increased the loan sizes a couple of times.” The upswing in the loan amount for the hotel offers a hopeful counterpoint to the financial struggles…

By Alicia Hoisington Sep 19, 2023 02:07pm San Francisco offers a diverse set of demand generators, such as popular tourist attractions like the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf and more. But the market has been slow to recover to pre-pandemic performance levels. That, paired with other financial factors, makes the outlook for the city’s hotel market a bit of a mixed bag. On the investment and development side for San Francisco’s hotel industry, like many markets across the United States, the top story is the banking industry’s recent upheaval. Where interest rate hikes used to be the biggest worry for investors, now the added trouble of banks pulling away from commercial real estate assets—such as hotels and office buildings—is a major concern. But the good news for hoteliers in San Francisco? Because San Francisco is a market with high barriers to entry, owners have not been as motivated to sell their assets. “It’s why we’re not seeing a lot of product in San Francisco trading. People are still bullish on the city in the long term,” said Alan Reay, president of Atlas Hospitality Group. “The bottom line is [that] if you’re a hotel owner and don’t have a loan coming due…

By Alicia HoisingtonSep 19, 2023 02:07pm San Francisco offers a diverse set of demand generators, such as popular tourist attractions like the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf and more. But the market has been slow to recover to pre-pandemic performance levels. That, paired with other financial factors, makes the outlook for the city’s hotel market a bit of a mixed bag. On the investment and development side for San Francisco’s hotel industry, like many markets across the United States, the top story is the banking industry’s recent upheaval. Where interest rate hikes used to be the biggest worry for investors, now the added trouble of banks pulling away from commercial real estate assets—such as hotels and office buildings—is a major concern. But the good news for hoteliers in San Francisco? Because San Francisco is a market with high barriers to entry, owners have not been as motivated to sell their assets. “It’s why we’re not seeing a lot of product in San Francisco trading. People are still bullish on the city in the long term,” said Alan Reay, president of Atlas Hospitality Group. “The bottom line is [that] if you’re a hotel owner and don’t have a loan coming due in…