Baton Rouge Marriott to Hit Auction Block in September at $7M Starting Bid

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

Baton Rouge’s iconic Marriott hotel fronting Interstate 10, near College Drive and Corporate Boulevard, is going for auction.

The property was listed on auction.com, the largest online real estate auction firm in the country. According to the website, the starting bid is set at $7 million.

The Baton Rouge Marriott is a 21-story hotel, constructed in 1971, on 5.5 acres of land, at 5500 Hilton Avenue. It features 297 guest rooms and two suites. The hotel also offers approximately 20,000 square feet of meeting space in 25 rooms, including a a 6,050-square-foot ballroom.

The venue has been in business since 1976. It first operated as a Hilton and switched to the Marriott brand in 2000, when Columbia Properties Baton Rouge purchased the hotel from Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. for $20.6 million. Last year, lender CCMS 2005-CD 1 Lodging seized the Baton Rouge Marriott from Columbia Properties Baton Rouge, which owed $32.8 million on a $36.5 million promissory note signed in 2005, and announced its plans to market the high-rise property. CCMS 2005-CD 1 Lodging bought the hotel at a sheriff’s sale for $2,200, representing court costs.

Auction.com invited potential bidders to tour the property on August 26 and August 28. The auction of the Baton Rouge Marriott is scheduled to begin later this month, on Sept. 15. It will end on Sept. 17. The Plasencia Group, an investment consulting and advisory firm, is marketing the hotel.

Marcus & Millichap reports that hotel occupancy in the Gulf Coast region, which consists of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, was 58.8 percent in the first half of 2014, 1.1 percent higher than the corresponding period last year. The state of Louisiana registered an occupancy of 63.2 percent, 1.3 percent higher than a year ago. According to auction.com, the Baton Rouge Marriott had an occupancy of 61.8 percent as of June 30, 2014. Marcus & Millichap also reports that the investment market in the Gulf Coast region flourished in 2013 and, although 2014 has started slowly, investor interest will continue to remain strong.