Starwood Capital Sells Iconic Hotel Lutetia in Paris for $171M

September 9, 2010
By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

The famed Hotel Lutetia in Paris has changed hands after five years under Starwood Capital Group’s ownership. The global private equity firm sold the 231-room property to Israeli real estate company Alrov for approximately $171 million.

An Art Deco building developed exactly 100 years ago, Hotel Lutetia sits in the city’s tony Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood. Starwood Capital came into possession of the asset in 2005 when it acquired Groupe Taittinger and Société du Louvre for $3.2 billion. Terms of the deal with Alrov allow Starwood Capital affiliate Groupe Concorde to stay on as manager of the hotel. As for proceeds from the transaction, Starwood Capital will pocket some of the funds for future acquisitions.

But Starwood Capital has far more than just the cash from the Hotel Lutetia sale to play with in today’s hotel market. In April, the firm closed its Starwood Capital Global Hospitality Fund II at $965 million.

While the company is certainly eying new investment opportunities, it is also interested in facilitating additional dispositions. Richard Gomel, Managing Director at Starwood Capital Group, noted that the company will continue to take an opportunistic approach toward selling assets given the right combination of investor returns and market timing.