Blackstone’s open-ended US real estate investment platform is selling an $800m (€749m) resort and spa in Texas to Ryman Hospitality Properties, a deal that will generate over $275m in profit after five years of owning the asset.
Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust (BREIT), which reportedly paid around $650m to acquire JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa in San Antonio in 2018, said it has agreed to sell the asset to NYSE-listed Ryman.
JW Marriott Hill Country opened in 2010 and is located on 640 acres in the Texas Hill Country. The resort offers 1,002 rooms and 268,000sqft of indoor and outdoor meeting and event space.
Nadeem Meghji, the head of Blackstone’s real estate business in the Americas, said: “Where you invest matters and Ryman’s unsolicited outreach demonstrates the strong investor demand for BREIT’s portfolio, which is concentrated in the highest growth sectors and geographies.
“This sale, which generates approximately $275m in profit over a five-year hold period through COVID, represents a terrific outcome for BREIT shareholders.”
Mark Fioravanti, president and CEO of Ryman Hospitality Properties, said: “We identified the JW Marriott Hill Country as an ideal acquisition target quite some time ago.
“Located in an attractive and growing market with no emerging competitive supply, this beautiful resort is a natural complement to our existing Gaylord Hotels portfolio and offers significant opportunities to serve the group and leisure sides of our business.”
Fioravanti said Ryman expects the acquisition to be “accretive to our adjusted funds from operation per share in the first full year of ownership”.
He added: “We look forward to pursuing additional value creation opportunities at this property and synergies with our existing portfolio through our unique asset management approach.”
BREIT and Ryman expect to close the acquisition by the third quarter of 2023.
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