AUSTIN – (Realty News Report) – Interfin Companies, a Houston-based developer led by Giorgio Borlenghi, has sold the Hotel Granduca Austin, a 194-room upscale property located in the suburban hills west of central Austin.
Opened in 2015, the Austin hotel was developed as a sister property to Interfin’s Hotel Granduca in Uptown Houston near the Galleria.
The buyer is Pacific Hospitality Group, an Irvine, Calif.-based operator that manages several upscale properties in Napa Valley and Hawaii under its Meritage Collection brand, in addition to business-class hotels in Southern California and two Marriott-branded hotels in the Dallas area.
The Hotel Granduca Austin will be rebranded under the Meritage Collection in 2021.
Pacific Hospitality Group’s purchase of the Austin property reflects a broader 2020 trend of California companies expanding into Texas markets.
The nine-story, 190,000-square-foot Hotel Granduca Austin sits in the Westlake area at 320 South Capital of Texas Highway, near the northwest corner of Bee Caves Road and Loop 360.
When construction began on the Austin Granduca in 2014, Interfin was considering expanding the Granduca brand to additional cities. At that time, the Houston Granduca was commanding room rates of about $340 per night, ranking among the top four hotels in Texas.
“We believe in Texas — and outside of Texas — there are quite a number of cities that would be perfect locations for something like this,” Giorgio Borlenghi told Realty News Report in 2014. “Our hope and our goal is to start expanding in other markets because it’s a great concept and it works.”
Expansion of the Granduca brand seemed like a viable strategy given Austin’s strength as a hotel market at that time, with high occupancy and premium room rates.
However, the coronavirus pandemic dramatically altered the hospitality landscape. In downtown Austin, RevPAR (revenue per available room) plunged to $3.62 in April 2020, down from $260 in April 2019, according to STR, the hotel research firm.
The pandemic caused widespread disruption across the hotel industry nationwide, with thousands of hospitality workers losing their jobs. As the public health crisis wanes and travel resumes, the hospitality sector is expected to recover gradually.
Interfin Companies, led by Borlenghi, has developed multiple projects in Houston, including office and residential towers in the Galleria area such as Four Oaks Place and Four Leaf Towers, as well as the Uptown Park development.
Interfin’s 122-room Hotel Granduca Houston, which opened in 2006, has earned notable recognition including placement on Condé Nast’s Gold List, inclusion in Condé Nast’s Readers’ Choice “Top 15 Hotels in Texas,” and a Forbes Four-Star rating.
Dec. 24, 2020 Realty News Report Copyright 2020
File: Interfin Sells Hotel Granduca Austin
File: (2) Interfin. Giorgio Borlenghi. Condé Nast. Interfin Sells Hotel Granduca Austin to Pacific Hospitality Group.