Blackstone to sell luxury US hotel for US$705 million

BLACKSTONE struck a deal to sell the Arizona Biltmore hotel in Phoenix to Henderson Park, a London-based private equity real estate manager. 

Blackstone agreed to sell the luxury hotel for US$705 million, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be named citing private matters. Spokespeople for Blackstone and Henderson Park declined to comment. 

The deal comes nearly six years after Blackstone bought the property, a Waldorf Astoria resort, for roughly US$400 million from Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC. Blackstone since spent more than US$150 million renovating the property. Brokerage Eastdil Secured advised Blackstone on the sale to Henderson Park.

Hotels have fared better in the past year than some other commercial-property types such as offices. While domestic leisure travel has cooled slightly from the post-pandemic boom, resort owners are benefiting from international demand. That’s boosted the stocks of Americas lodging companies, which outperformed the S&P 500 Index from the end of 2022 through Monday’s close.

Other owners have sought to sell stakes in luxury hotels recently. Brookfield Asset Management sold a majority stake in the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne to Miami-based Gencom, which already owned a minority interest. Hyatt Hotels is in talks to sell the Park Hyatt Zurich to Trinity Investments. BLOOMBERG