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Hyatt Place San Juan breaks ground in Puerto Rico
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H), PRISA Group and McConnell Valdés Consulting yesterday announced the groundbreaking for Puerto Ricos fourth Hyatt-branded select service hotel, the $29.7 million Hyatt Place San Juan.
The announcement comes on the heels of the recent opening of the 126-room Hyatt House San Juan, which opened October 1, 2014, and confirms Hyatt’s commitment to Puerto Rico and the region. Hyatt Place San Juan will be developed by a joint venture between affiliates of Hyatt, PRISA Group and McConnell Valdés Consulting, Inc. As part of the transaction, a Hyatt affiliate has entered into a management and related agreements with the joint venture for the operation of the hotel. Hyatt Place San Juan is expected to open in the first quarter of 2016.
The 149-room Hyatt Place San Juan will be located in the Puerto Rico Convention District in San Juan, adjacent to the recently opened Hyatt House San Juan. The Puerto Rico Convention District is a master planned project comprising of 113-acres, which currently includes the 600,000-sq.ft. Puerto Rico Convention Center, the largest and most technologically advanced facility of its kind in the region. Building on strong gains in Puerto Rico’s tourism activity, the Puerto Rico Convention District is currently seeing a surge of development activity and is in the process of unveiling several major projects. Hyatt Place San Juan will be centrally located and minutes from all major attractions and beaches in the Old San Juan, Condado, Miramar and Hato Rey districts. It will also offer easy access to all major cruise ship terminals and Puerto Rico’s International Airport.
In the past 11 months, hotel owners and developers PRISA Group and McConnell Valdés Consulting, Inc. have seen three Hyatt-branded select service hotels open in Puerto Rico, representing over $115 million in development costs for them. The 156-room Hyatt Place San Juan/Bayamon opened in December 2013, the 106-room Hyatt Place Manatí opened in March 2014 and the 126-room Hyatt House San Juan opened in October 2014.
“It is wonderful to see Hyatt’s resurgence in Puerto Rico. We have always believed in the leisure and business potential of the island, and we see Puerto Rico as a key component of our growth strategy in the Americas,” said Pat McCudden, senior vice president, real estate and development, Latin America and Caribbean for Hyatt. “Our relationship with the PRISA Group in Puerto Rico runs decades long, and it is wonderful to celebrate the fantastic 11-month period, having three Hyatt-branded hotels open on the island as well as this fourth hotel announcement.”
“Puerto Rico has and continues to be an important destination for travelers, posting consistent gains in visitor arrivals, rates and occupancy over the past several years,” said Federico Stubbe, Jr., president of PRISA Group, the developer and joint venture partner. “The Hyatt Place brand’s well-received innovative service concept and modern design, combined with Hyatt’s impressive worldwide growth over the last several years and strong brand loyalty in Puerto Rico, offers a compelling business case for expanding the brand’s presence with a third Hyatt Place hotel on the island.”