Xenia Hotels & Resorts Announces Agreement to Acquire W Nashville Hotel
Xenia Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (NYSE: XHR) today announced it has agreed to acquire the 346-key W Nashville for a purchase price of $328.7 million or $950,000 per key.
"We are thrilled to have reached an agreement to acquire W Nashville, an outstanding newly constructed luxury lifestyle hotel located in the desirable Gulch neighborhood in the heart of Nashville," commented Marcel Verbaas, Xenia's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "The addition of W Nashville will mark the 14th property acquired since our listing on the NYSE in 2015 and aligns perfectly with our strategy of owning a portfolio of uniquely positioned premium hotels and resorts located in Top 25 markets and key leisure destinations that we expect to drive superior earnings growth. W Nashville is extremely well-designed and perfectly situated to attract year-round leisure, corporate and group demand."
"We are excited about the earnings potential for W Nashville given its unique attributes, its status as one of the premier hotels in Nashville, the strong outlook for the market, and our belief that we are in the early stages of a multi-year recovery in demand for luxury lodging."
Having opened in October 2021, the 14-story W Nashville features:
- six food and beverage venues including two destination restaurants by Chef Andrew Carmellini, as well as rooftop and pool bars,
- 18,000 square feet of differentiated indoor meeting and pre-function space with state-of-the-art technology to attract the most discerning groups,
- 26,000 square feet of finished outdoor space, including a rooftop with 360-degree views, a 10,000 square foot pool deck, and terraces contiguous with meeting, food and beverage and event spaces,
- six street level entrances to maximize accessibility and revenue generation across its multiple venues,
- 60 suites, more than any other luxury hotel in the market, representing over 17% of keys, providing for the ability to capture premium leisure and corporate demand, and
- 200 parking spaces
Nashville is one of the most dynamic growth markets in the country and economic activity has accelerated in the last 18 months, as more companies increase their presence in the market. W Nashville's location in the LEED-certified Gulch neighborhood is proximate to booming corporate demand from sectors such as healthcare, the music recording industry, technology, finance, education, and consulting firms. Nashville CBD/West End has been one of the strongest performing lodging markets over the past few decades, with a RevPAR CAGR of 5.4% between 1987-2019 and 8.7% between 2009-2019, and demand has rebounded strongly after the initial impact from the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We look forward to deepening our relationship with Marriott International by acquiring our first W-branded property just as the W brand is being evolved and refreshed. This asset will be our 14th Marriott-affiliated hotel across six luxury and upper upscale brands in the Marriott brand family" continued Mr. Verbaas." We expect W Nashville to be immediately accretive to our portfolio, as reflected by indicators such as RevPAR and Hotel EBITDA/key, and believe it will be one of our top performing assets over the years ahead. We expect W Nashville to generate between $25 million and $30 million of Hotel EBITDA upon stabilization."
The Company expects to close the transaction by the end of the first quarter and fund the acquisition with available cash. The completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions.