New Castle Hotels and Resorts (NCHR) has announced the second wave of an ambitious, year-long growth trajectory that included launching one brand in Canada, debuting another brand in a new state and setting the stage for additional growth along the entire North American eastern seaboard.
“Over the past six months, we introduced the Westin brand to Maine with the renovation of the Eastland Park hotel and the unveiling of Rockbridge’s Westin Portland Harborview. We followed that up with the re-opening of the Algonquin in New Brunswick, which marked the debut of the Autograph Collection in Canada. Additionally, working with Rockbridge, we recently added management of The Cliff House, another of Maine’s historic landmark hotels, to our portfolio,” said Gerry Chase, president and COO. “Rockbridge has made a significant commitment to iconic Maine hotels and we’re very proud to be developing these landmark hotels with them.
“We’re now adjusting our sights southward to further diversify our portfolio,” Chase added. “These upcoming projects represent a cross section of our development and operational strengths, emphasizing our resort area expertise and leveraging our management bench strength and deep brand knowledge.”
New Castle has the following projects in various stages of development:
- Westin Jekyll Island, Jekyll Island, Ga. $41 million/200 rooms.
Currently under roof. Anticipated opening January, 2015.
Partners: Leon N. Weiner & Associates, Inc.
“We have enjoyed great success repositioning historic hotels under the Westin flag, first with the Nova Scotian in Halifax and more recently with the Westin Portland Harborview in Maine,” Chase stated. “This new build on Jekyll Island is the perfect confluence of business demand from 120 meetings a year at a brand new convention center and a destination’s ethos aligning perfectly with the brand’s, not to mention a well-known developer and trusted partner.”
- Hampton Inn and Suites & Marina, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 178 rooms and suites.
Partners: Madison Capital Management, LLC.
“Upper upscale, select service hotels are in great demand, particularly in urban, university and resort markets. Fort Lauderdale fits into all of categories, and this particular site has the added benefit of being within a five minute drive of the Port Everglades cruise terminal,” noted Chase. “A Hampton Inn and Suites, with an attached marina, is certain to do very well meeting the growing demand of Ft. Lauderdale’s 13.4 million annual visitors.”
- Residence Inn by Marriott, Boston, Mass., at Northeastern University.
200 rooms. Wholly owned and operated by New Castle Hotels and Resorts.
“Less than a year since opening, our Residence Inn/Courtyard dual brand in Syracuse N.Y., is operating at an index of 140,” Chase said. “I believe that’s due to the strength of well-chosen brands and the demand generated in university dominated markets. We are confident that we can reprise that success with this project.”
“We spent considerable time during the downturn strategically sourcing deals that would come online as the market regained full steam,” said David Buffam, CEO. “Now that the market is firmly on the upswing, with occupancy and ADR on the rise, we fully expect to leverage our development success and preferred operator status with Hilton, Marriott and Starwood, as well as our depth of management experience, to grow the portfolio through development, acquisition and third-party management.”
“In just the past six months, we re-opened two historic renovations that had been in the development stages for more than a year and added a third legacy landmark, the Cliff House, to our managed portfolio,” Chase added. “We’ve firmly established ourselves as a skillful partner in these kinds of unique, multi-dimensional projects and are actively seeking similar opportunities to offer landmark hotels a second life in a contemporary market.”
