A privately-held hotel group from Iowa has acquired the Hilton Garden Inn at 3330 Harding Blvd. at Howell Place for an undisclosed amount.
Hawkeye Hotels announced the purchase of the 131-room hotel near the Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport this morning. The seller is Carey Watermark Investors, a real estate investment trust. Hodges Ward Elliott of Atlanta brokered the deal, which closed on Wednesday.
“We have experience with operating hotels near airports,” says Hawkeye Chief Development Officer Raj Patel in a prepared statement. “We understand what it takes to make it in these unique markets, and we look forward to building on the success of this hotel as we further expand our footprint in the region.”
Hawkeye says it plans to renovate the hotel, which was built in 2004. Major updates are planned for the hotel’s lobby, guest rooms and public spaces, the news release says. The hotel has increased its occupancy and daily rate over the past few months, Hawkeye says, making it an attractive buy for the hotel group.
“After doing our due diligence on the property, we determined that it was in great shape and well-positioned to hit key performance metrics over the next several years,” Patel says.
The Hilton Garden Inn is the second Louisiana hotel Hawkeye has recently added to its portfolio. The hotel group purchased Hotel Modern, a 10-story boutique hotel, in New Orleans last summer. The firm owns and operates over 50 hotels across the country.
