| |
Posted Dec 20, 2013, 7:31 PM
|
 |
Moderator
|
|
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Ottawa
Posts: 24,557
|
|
|
Downtown Hilton Garden Inn and Homewood Suites / Completed
As we all know, after buying the hotel in Place de Ville's Skyline Building, Delta decided to not to renew their lease with Morguard in the Delta Complex on Queen. After operating as an independent "National" Hotel, Morguard has decided to close the hotel to make a significant investment in the building.
The building, built by Bill Teron, originally opened in 1974 as the Inn of the Provinces (overlooking the Garden of the Provinces). It is the eighth largest hotel in Ottawa with 328 rooms. The complex was purchased by Morguard in 2008.
  
Here are a few related OBJ articles that brought us to this point;
Quote:
Morguard buys property including Delta Ottawa hotel for $75.3M
Published on January 03, 2008
Morguard Corp. and Morguard Real Estate Investment Trust have bought the three-tower complex in downtown Ottawa which includes the Delta Hotel.
The Mississauga-based real estate and property management company said it had bought the Delta Ottawa hotel property on 316 Queen St., as well as a 12-storey, 171,311-square-foot office building at 350 Sparks St.
Morguard paid a total of $75.3 million for the complex.
The hotel property contains 328 guest rooms and includes an underground parking garage containing 273 parking spaces. It is currently under long-term lease to a major Canadian hotel real estate investment trust, the companies said in a statement.
Morguard Corp. and Morguard Real Estate Investment Trust will each own half of the complex, which will be operated through a joint venture arrangement between the two companies.
|
http://www.obj.ca/Other/Archives/2008-01-03/article-2309036/Morguard-buys-property-including-Delta-Ottawa-hotel-for-$75.3M/1
Quote:
Delta drops Queen Street hotel
Elizabeth HowellPublished on February 06, 2012
Independents thriving in major markets, experts say
A 35-year business relationship between a national hospitality chain and one of Ottawa's largest hotels is coming to an end.
The 328-room Queen Street facility formerly known as the Delta Ottawa Hotel and Suites is now operating independently as the National Hotel & Suites Ottawa.
Delta spokesperson Sandy Indig declined to give a reason for the parting of ways, beyond noting that the most recent agreement between the chain and hotel's owners expired on Jan. 31.
The change comes a year after Delta purchased the former Crowne Plaza building across the street from its existing facility and rebranded it as the Delta Ottawa City Centre, pouring $25 million into renovating the Lyon Street hotel.
At the time, Delta president and CEO Hank Stackhouse said that having two hotels in close proximity would allow the company to target groups of 500 to 700 guests.
"When the larger groups come in, we have an opportunity to host them at both hotels and offer them a mixed range of products," he told OBJ in December 2010.
However, Victor Ferreira, who headed the old Delta and will continue to serve as general manager of the National, said that the acquisition contributed to the end of the decades-old agreement with the Queen Street hotel.
"It was a brand decision not to renew the agreement because they have another Delta in the city and they own the building there," Mr. Ferreira said.
The National - as well as the attached office building - is owned by asset management giant Morguard Corp. and its real estate investment trust.
Meanwhile, the parent company for the Delta Ottawa City Centre is bcIMC Realty Corp., which also includes SilverBirch Hotels & Resorts - the former Crowne Plaza manager - under its umbrella.
One industry expert suggested that Delta is focusing on buildings where it owns the property.
"Hotels change brands from time to time, and I think with Delta actually acquiring the real estate, it was part of their long-term strategy. Delta did not own the real estate on the ... (Queen Street) property," said Bill Stone, the Toronto-based executive vice-president of CBRE Hotels.
He adds that despite the loss of the national brand name, the National will benefit from Ottawa's tight hotel market and service reputation.
"With relatively little supply growth in downtown Ottawa, I think that the name is important, but it's not critical," Mr. Stone said.
"(What's more important is) what's the quality of the guest room, how much am I paying, am I being treated nicely. That is something the current operator will do."
Ottawa's traditionally stable government business has created a thriving market for independents, according to analysts. Customers for the feds tend to stay longer and prefer larger, suite-style hotel rooms, which many of the independents offer - including the National.
But it will be more the National's location close to downtown businesses and Parliament Hill, as well as its established customer base, that will serve the hotel well, said Alam Pirani, the executive managing director of Colliers International Hotels.
"Major markets like Toronto and Ottawa and Montreal, there are some independents that are very successful. If you've got a good location, operating as an independent isn't a major challenge."
The newly independent hotel will not save any money from the change, Mr. Ferreira said. Although the hotel will no longer pay a franchising fee - the exact amount was not disclosed - it will need to step up its marketing efforts and change its reservation system and website, he noted.
Management will remain in its current form, Mr. Ferreira said. As with before, InnVest REIT - which has a partnership with hotel operator Westmount Hospitality Group - will manage the facility. Also, all former Delta employees and managers at the hotel will stay on, he said.
The National was originally built as the Inn of the Provinces in 1974.
It is the eighth-largest hotel in Ottawa by number of guest rooms, with 328 rooms and about 250 employees, according to OBJ's Book of Lists. Prices range from $119 to $169 in the low season, to $169 to $229 in the high.
By comparison, the capital's largest hotel - the Westin Ottawa - has 500 rooms and prices of up to nearly $600 in the high season. The Delta Ottawa City Centre is Ottawa's fifth-largest hotel with 411 rooms, and prices of up to $280 in the high season.
Renovations of the National are in the works, but few details have been decided on yet, officials added.
|
http://www.obj.ca/Local/Tourism/2012...Street-hotel/1
Quote:
Morguard's National Hotel to close at the end of December
Mark BrownleePublished on November 20, 2013
One of Ottawa’s downtown hotels will be closing at the end of 2013 as its owner prepares for a “renovation and repositioning” of the building over the next year.
Morguard Corp. announced, in a note to tenants in the attached office building last week, that the National Hotel & Suites will close before the end of December so it could make a “substantial investment” in the property.
The note to tenants did not include any more details about how the property would be repositioned.
An advisory posted on the hotel’s website said the National Hotel & Suites would “permanently close its doors” on Dec. 22.
Morguard officials were not immediately available to provide more details but an industry source with knowledge of Morguard’s plans told OBJ that the building would reopen as a hotel after closing for a year.
The tenants in the attached office building at 350 Sparks St. will not be affected by the renovations, the note to tenants added.
The hotel, located at 361 Queen St., dropped its Delta branding last year and began operating independently.
The National has 328 guest rooms and employs around 250 people, according to OBJ’s most recent Book of Lists. That makes it the ninth-largest hotel in Ottawa when ranked by number of rooms.
|
http://www.obj.ca/Local/Tourism/2013...-of-December/1
Quote:
Morguard evaluating options for National Hotel building
Mark BrownleePublished on December 19, 2013
The owner of a soon-to-be-shuttered downtown hotel is planning to pour millions of dollars into renovating the building but isn’t willing to commit to re-opening the space as a lodging facility.
Morguard Properties announced last month plans to permanently close the National Hotel & Suites at the end of December so it could renovate and reposition the property.
Bernie Myers, the vice-president of Morguard for the region, declined to specify exactly how much the company planned to spend but said it would be somewhere between $10 million and $20 million.
However, the building won’t necessarily re-open as a hotel. Morguard is leaning towards continuing to use the space for that purpose but is evaluating what other purposes it could serve, said Mr. Myers.
“We’re looking at all options, all scenarios at this stage,” he said. “Clearly the building certainly was built and has served well as a hotel.”
But, he added, “we would not be doing the right thing to our investors who own the building to (not) say, ‘Well, wait a second, what now is the highest and best use and if we are going to make a large capital investment in the project – which we are going to do – how should we do that for optimum results?’”
The hotel, located at 361 Queen St., dropped its Delta branding last year and has since been operating independently.
Mr. Myers said the company does not have any leads on a new affiliation for the building should it be re-opened as a hotel.
He declined to go into detail about the exact changes the company would be able to make for the money it is planning to invest.
All he would say was that “you get a lot more than carpet and drapes for $10- to $20 million” and that the facility will have the “latest and greatest” in amenities when it re-opens.
He said the company decided to close the hotel because it was built in the mid-’70s. He felt the substantial renovation it needed could not be completed while the hotel continued to operate.
Morguard plans to have the renovations completed in nine to 12 months, he said. He anticipated the building will re-open sometime in 2015.
The National is the ninth-largest hotel in Ottawa by number of guest rooms, according to OBJ research. It has 328 rooms and employs about 250 people.
|
http://www.obj.ca/Local/2013-12-19/a...tel-building/1
Morguard has expressed interest in connecting some of it's buildings on Queen street to the Confederation Line. It seems the Inn of the Provinces Complex would be a good start.
|
|
|
Prev
Linear Mode
