Peachtree Lends $115M in Hyatt-Branded Hotel Recaps

McWhinney has secured $114.6 million of bridge financing for the recapitalization of two Hyatt-branded hotels in Denver, Colo., and Austin, Texas, Commercial Observer has learned.

Peachtree Group originated the debt package for the developer’s 246-room Hyatt Centric Congress Avenue Austin and 226-key Hyatt Place Peña Station in Denver. 

Denver-based McWinney acquired the Austin site that previously housed a vacant retail building in 2019 before opening the hotel in 2023. The Denver loan will provide McWinney additional time to stabilize the hotel’s operating performance after its opening in late 2019 was disrupted by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Jared Schlosser, Peachtree Group’s senior vice president, said McWhinney’s experienced sponsorship in the hospitality sector, which includes 2,600 hotel rooms in its portfolio, was attractive from a lending perspective along with the location of both assets.  

“We’ve been talking to them for a few years now and are big fans of what they do,” Schlosser told CO. “We chased a Colorado deal they did a few years ago and lost out on it, so we had always tracked them and we’re excited to do this type of financing.” 

Located at 721 Congress Avenue in Downtown Austin, the Hyatt Centric Congress hotel has amenities that include a fitness center, an on-site restaurant, a laundry room and meeting space. 

The Hyatt Place Denver Peña Station at 6110 North Panasonic Way has amenities that include a pool and fitness center. It is adjacent to a commuter rail station with access to Downtown Denver and Denver International Airport. 

The Austin hotel is roughly half a mile from the Austin Convention Center, which is scheduled to go offline until 2029 for a $1.6 billion redevelopment project.  

Keegan Bisch, vice president of originations and credit at Peachtree, said hotels near the convention center are formulating plans for how to mitigate lost business from the convention center development, but he stressed that the city has plenty of other economic drivers that will fuel occupancy. Atlanta-based Peachtree is also an owner in Austin properties on the equity side of its business and recently opened a new office in the Texas capital.

“There is expansion of the capital complex and an expansion of a medical center, so there’s a lot of demand coming into Austin,” Bisch said. “We feel good about Austin generally.”

Officials for McWhinney did not immediately return a request for comment. 

Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com