Winners of the Transaction of the Year 2001 awards were announced during the recent Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS),…
Winners of the Transaction of the Year 2001 awards were announced during the recent Americas Lodging Investment Summit (ALIS), February 3-5, 2002, at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, Calif. The inaugural ALIS awards program, co-hosted by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (
Le Meridien Hotels CEO Juergen Bartels accepted the award for the Merger and Acquisition category for the selling of his international luxury hotel chain by the Compass Group to Nomura Holdings, a worldwide financial services and management company listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The cash sale, with a total value of $2.7 billion, represented a continuation of Compass' efforts to dispose of its lodging assets and concentrate exclusively on its core food services businesses, and Nomura's expansion of its interests in the lodging industry.
The conference's host property, the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel, won in the New Development category. TrizecHahn Development Corporation Executive Vice President and COO Andrew Blair and Marriott International Regional Vice President Tony Capuano jointly accepted the award for the 637-room, 50,000 square foot hotel. A unique public/private joint venture by the TrizecHahn and the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Authority, the hotel was one of the initial projects to promote the revival of Hollywood. Their efforts produced one of the most spectacular commercial real estate transformations in the country – ending with the completion of the $615 million Hollywood & Highland retail and entertainment (1,300,000 square feet) complex, including the $175 million Renaissance Hollywood Hotel. Now one of the crown jewels in Marriott International's Renaissance brand, the complex also is home to the Kodak Theater, which is the new permanent home of the Academy Awards* ceremonies.
Accepting the award in the Single Asset Sale category was Grubb & Ellis Senior Vice President Jordan Richman on behalf of the new owners of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. L&L USA, a Taiwanese-based investment company, sold the hotel property to joint venture partners Mass Mutual Life Insurance Company and Forethought Life Insurance Company in June 2001 for $41.5 million. The only lodging property in the San Francisco area and one of just 25 in the country to hold the coveted Mobil five-star rating, the 154-room Mandarin Oriental occupies floors 37 through 48 of the California Center, the third tallest building in the city.
"These awards were created to honor the most interesting, innovative, and important deals of the year," said BHN President and Conference Chairman Jim Burba. "In a year where transaction activity was slow, these very noteworthy deals took place and hopefully set a standard for future award winners."
In addition, Hotel Association of New York City President Joseph E. Spinnato accepted a Special ALIS Award in acknowledgment of his city's hotel employees who demonstrated exemplary acts of courage in response to the September 11 terrorist attacks. Joining Spinnato in receiving the award were two hotel employees – Roosevelt Hotel Bellperson Emmanuel "Manny" Geogaroudis and Marriott World Trade Center and Financial Center Director of Finance Franklin Mak.
On hand to entertain the guests for the evening was Emmy Award winner and legendary comedienne Joan Rivers. Rivers, known as one of the hardest working women in the entertainment business, performed her highly acclaimed and unique comedy act immediately following the ALIS awards presentation.
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