Hospitality Ventures Embarks on $110M in Renovations

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

John Edwards, Hospitality Ventures Management Group

Atlanta—The thriving U.S. hotel sector has translated into a full plate for Hospitality Ventures Management Group. The private hotel ownership and management company, which also provides a wide range of asset services for hotel owners, recently revealed that it is currently juggling eight renovation and construction projects totaling $110 million.

“Today’s hospitality market is more compeitive than it’s ever been, particularly as the various hotel companies develop and launch new hotel products in a continual effort to increase brand loyalty and increase market share within the various industry segments. With today’s business and leisure travelers increasingly more concerned with convenience and ‘experience’ over brand loyalty, this is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future,” John Edwards, industry veteran and vice president of design and construction with Hospitality Ventures Management Group, told Commercial Property Executive. “An established ‘name’ becomes less important than the newer, fresher and experiential properties that offer something more interesting and entertaining. This exerts a great deal of pressure on existing, older properties to remain relevant”

HVMG’s list of eight new and ongoing undertakings spans the U.S. In its hometown of Atlanta, HVMG is spearheading the renovation of the 287-room Atlanta Marriott Century Center/Emory Area, and it recently wrapped up an approximately $11.7 million revamp of the 261-room Embassy Suites by Hilton Atlanta Galleria. Also in the Southeast, the company completed a comprehensive upgrade at the 138-room DoubleTree Nashville Airport in Tennessee, and it is currently overseeing renovations at the 308-room Marriott Winston-Salem in North Carolina, and at a hotel featuring 163 guestrooms in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea, Fla. In New Jersey, HVMG is managing the partial renovation of all 139 guestrooms and public areas at DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Mahwah, and out west in Arizona, the company is directing the conversion of the 226-key Hilton Phoenix Suites into an Embassy Suites property. And a new-build, SpringHill Suites Orange Beach at the Wharf in Orange Beach, Ala., rounds out HVMG’s current commitments.

HVMG’s project management expertise is clearly in great demand, due in no small part to the 110 years of combined experience backing the firm’s design and construction division. However, the high level of contract activity that keeps coming to the company’s front door can also be designated a sign of the times. “Assuming service levels and location are comparable and rate does not drive the purchasing decision, the only way for these older properties to maintain market share is to respond through renovations,” said Edwards. “To compete, they have to provide unique and innovative designs with a refreshed product that can compete with the newer and trendy options in the market.”