Peachtree Group Supplies $36M Refi for Houston Hotel Conversion Project
By Andrew Coen April 16, 2025 4:50 pm
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Development Services Group (DSG), a Memphis-based developer focused on historic property conversions, has sealed a $36.1 million loan to refinance its transformation of a Houston office building into a hotel, Commercial Observer has learned.
Peachtree Group originated the three-year, floating-rate loan with two 12-month extension options for the DSG’s Meridien Houston Downtown hotel property located where the 1952-built Melrose Building once stood. In 2015, the developer acquired the office property, which was Houston’s first modern skyscraper, and repurposed it into a 250-room hotel that opened in 2017.
Jared Schlosser, Peachtree Group’s senior vice president, said the momentum of Houston’s hospitality economy coupled with DSG’s extensive experience redeveloping historic structures made the deal attractive from a lending perspective.
“There’s a lot of tailwinds for Houston now and you’re seeing that with the performance of this hotel, which increased substantially from 2023,” Schlosser told CO. “We have experience with the developer who did a great job with the renovation. It was a historic building that he repurposed so it has a lot of charm to it.”
Schlosser noted that Houston is poised for strong lodging growth aided by population growth and a number of corporations setting up shop in the country’s fourth most populous city. Additionally, the region’s oil-based economy is expected to get a boost from the Trump administration’s pro-extraction policies.
DSG has also undergone hotel redevelopments with the Le Meridien Philadelphia, the Le Meridien Tampa, the Candler Hotel Atlanta and the Kimpton Harper Hotel Fort Worth.
Located at 1121 Walker Street less than a mile from Houston’s theater district, the Meridien Houston Downtown has amenities that include a rooftop bar, meeting rooms, event space and a fitness center.
Officials at DSG did not immediately return a request for comment.
Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com
