Fort Washington Holiday Inn Gets New Ownership

By Veronica Grecu, Associate Editor

Haverford Hotel Partners and Haverford Properties, Inc. are now the new owners of a full-service hotel located 19 miles north of Philadelphia.

Fort Washington Holiday Inn Express – rendering

The two companies joined forces to acquire the Fort Washington Holiday Inn Montgomery County for an undisclosed price. However, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported that the total investment amounts to approximately $19 million, including acquisition costs and the upcoming redevelopment process. The sale was arranged by Joe McCann of Optimum Hotel Brokerage.

Located at 432 Pennsylvania Ave. with easy access to King of Prussia Mall, Valley Forge National Historic Park and Downtown Philadelphia, the eight-story hotel sits on a seven-acre property off the Pennsylvania Turnpike. It was built in 1975 by an unnamed investor based in Washington, D.C. and has been under the same flagship ever since. According to the Journal, in recent years the hotel’s occupancy declined progressively and the business was struggling to survive—which made the transaction even more complicated, as the sale involved a year-long due diligence and zoning approvals. Additionally, the seller shut down operations earlier this year, and more than 60 employees were laid off, according to a news report by Montgomery News.

As part of the repurposing process, the Holiday Inn in Fort Washington will be rebranded as a Holiday Inn Express. This means that it will no longer operate as a full-service property, and the existing 230 guest rooms will be reduced to 168, and the remaining space will be redeveloped into a 1,822-square-foot restaurant. A free-standing restaurant of approximately 8,000 square feet will be built on a separate pad site on the property, as well as a flagship coffee shop—probably a Starbucks with a drive-through window.

The newly branded hotel is scheduled to reopen in December.

Rendering credits to Haverford Hotel Partners