Marriott International has sold The London Edition, and signed binding agreements for the sale of two other company-owned Edition hotels currently under development in Miami Beach and Manhattan. The total purchase price for the three Edition hotels is approximately $815m – roughly equivalent to the aggregate estimated total development costs of all three hotels. The hotels will each be operated by Marriott under long-term management contracts with the new owners, which are companies ultimately owned by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
The London Edition opened in September 2013, and was conveyed to its buyer yesterday. The Miami Beach Edition and The New York Edition are under construction, and are expected to open in the second half of 2014 and the first half of 2015 respectively. Marriott expects to convey each hotel individually to the new owner after construction is complete. The Miami Beach and New York purchase prices are fixed – as such, development costs in excess of the agreed purchase price will not be recovered.
“The sale of all three company-owned hotels is a powerful endorsement of our Edition brand,” says Arne Sorenson, president and chief executive officer of Marriott International. “This transaction is a key component of our strategy to build the Edition brand by selectively developing spectacular, brand-defining hotels in gateway cities. We look forward to managing these hotels for many years.”
The residential component of the Miami Beach Edition was not included in this transaction. Marriott will retain ownership of the residential units pending their sale to individual purchasers.
Edition Hotels, launched by Marriott in partnership with Ian Schrager, combines the intimate and individualised lodging experience for which Ian Schrager is known, with the global reach, operational expertise and scale of Marriott. Other Edition hotels are planned for Los Angeles, US; Abu Dhabi, UAE; Sanya, China; Gurgaon, India; and Bangkok, Thailand.
