Monday, June 16, 2008

Rezidor Announces New Radisson Resort in Saïdia/Morocco


MEDITERRANIA SAIDIA, MOROCCO--The Rezidor Hotel Group announces the Radisson Resort & Spa Saïdia in Morocco – the property featuring 384 rooms and 97 villas is scheduled to open in Q3 2010.

“With this signing we are adding a new and emerging country to our pipeline and are now present in 53 countries across EMEA”, comments Kurt Ritter, (top right photo) President & CEO of Rezidor. “In the Middle East and Africa we now have 47 hotels with almost 11,500 rooms in operation and under development – a clear sign for our commitment to this region.”

The Radisson Resort & Spa Saïdia is a common project between Rezidor and Property Logic, the developer behind Le Jardin de Fleur resorts in Morocco.

"We are delighted to partner with such an important international brand as Radisson because of its outstanding quality and services that are renowned in the industry.
"Our companies share a common vision for luxury standards that will make the Saïdia resort a world class tourism destination,” said Mr. Joop Huisman, Managing Director of Property Logic.

Mediterrania-Saïdia is located on the northeast Mediterranean coast of Morocco and famous for its 6 kilometers of unspoiled coastline.

Besides its luxury suites and villa residences the Radisson resort will offer 4 restaurants, 3 bars, a Moroccan-themed Spa and Thalasso centre comprising 1,500 square meters, 5 outdoor pools, 1 indoor pool, 2 fitness centers, a kids club, shops, tennis courts, an amphitheatre and a beach club. The resort’s 1,500 square meters of meeting and conference facilities will make it ideal for business and leisure travelers alike.

The Rezidor Hotel Group is one of the fastest growing hotel companies in the world. The group features a portfolio of over 330 hotels in operation and under development with more than 68,000 rooms in 53 countries.
Rezidor operates the brands Radisson SAS Hotels & Resorts, Regent Hotels & Resorts, Park Inn and Country Inns & Suites in Europe, Middle East and Africa, along with the goldpoints plusSM loyalty programme for frequent hotel guests.

Rezidor has signed a worldwide license agreement with the Italian fashion house Missoni, in order to develop and operate a lifestyle hotel brand of the same name: Hotel Missoni.
In November 2006, Rezidor was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. With 42%, Carlson Companies is the main shareholder.The Corporate Office of the Rezidor Hotel Group is based in Brussels, Belgium.

For more information on Rezidor, visit http://www.rezidor.com/.

CONTACT:
Christiane Reiter, Phone: +32 2 702 9331. Email: Christiane.Reiter@Rezidor.com
The Rezidor Hotel Group, http://www.rezidor.com/
Avenue du Bourget 44Brussels, 1130, Belgium. Phone: +32 2 702 9200. Fax: +32 2702 9300. Email: info@rezidor.com

Baymont Brand Has Grown More than 50% with Opening of 200th Property

PARSIPPANY, N.J. Baymont Inn & Suites® officials today celebrated the opening of their 200th property and announced that the brand has grown 52 percent in size since its acquisition by Wyndham Hotel Group two years ago.

The 200th Baymont property is a 60-room, new-construction hotel in Huntsville, Ala., (top right photo) owned by Bharatkumar Darji, who has been affiliated with Wyndham Hotel Group’s brands as a franchisee since 1999.

“In just two years, the Baymont brand has increased its size by 52 percent,” said Patrick Breen, (middle left photo) brand senior vice president, Baymont Franchise Systems. “As a result, we’re seeing a great deal of enthusiasm as the brand grows from its Midwestern roots and into new markets in the southern and western states.”

“We continue to see significant interest from developers, owners and operators,” Breen said, adding that more than 60 percent of currently approved franchise agreements represent new-construction hotels.

Later this year, the Baymont brand will complete systemwide upgrades including new mattresses and box springs, improved bed linens, bed toppings, hair dryers, multifunction shower heads, curved shower rods, hookless shower curtains and upgraded towels and washcloths.


Baymont Franchise Systems, a member of the Wyndham Hotel Group family of lodging brands, a chain of midscale hotels.

Reservations and information are available by calling (877) 229-6668 or by visiting http://www.baymontinns.com/. Baymont Inn & Suites hotels are independently owned and operated under franchise agreements with Baymont Franchise Systems, a subsidiary of Wyndham Worldwide Corporation (NYSE: WYN).

CONTACT:

Christine Da Silva, Director, Media Relations Wyndham Hotel Group, United States. Wyndham Worldwide, 1 Sylvan Way, Parsippany, NJ 07054. Phone: +1 (973) 753-65901.

NAI Realvest Negotiates New Retail Lease in Orange City,FL

MAITLAND, FL – NAI Realvest has negotiated a new retail lease at 2407 East Graves Ave. in Orange City.

Mez Birdie, CCIM, director of retail services for NAI Realvest, negotiated the lease representing the landlord.

Living Faith Christian Center has leased 7,200 square feet for five years at the Village Square Shopping Center.

For more information, contact:

Mez Birdie CCIM, Director of Retail Services, NAI Realvest, 407-875-9989 mbirdie@realvest.com

Janice Paiano, Director of Marketing NAI Realvest jpaiano@realvest.com

Larry Vershel or Beth Payan, LV Communications, 407-644-4142

Marcus & Millichap Lists 32,702-SF Retail Center in Puyallup, WA for $12.2M

PUYALLUP, WA -– Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services, the nation’s largest real estate investment services firm, has retained the exclusive listing for the South Meridian Retail Center, a 32,702-square foot retail assetcenter in Puyallup, WA.

The listing price of $12.2 million represents $373 per square foot.

Joel Deis, Michael Morgan, Joshua MNelson and Chris Secreto, all investment specialists in the Seattle office of Marcus & Millichap, are representing the seller, South Meridian Properties LLC.


“This property presents a is a rare opportunity for an investor to acquire a turn keyturn key asset featuringwith below- market rents in one of the most sought-after regions of the state.


The property also benefits from the most sought after and stable retail market in which it is locateds,” says Secreto.

Located at 18710 Meridian Ave. East, the retail center is situated on a 5.35-acre lot, boasting 618 feet of frontage on Meridian Avenue East and traffic counts in excess of 35,000 cars per day. Residential developers are expected to deliver more than 5,000 new homes to the immediate area during the next two years.

Built in 2006, the retail center features a strong mix of local, regional and national tenants, including Destination Harley-Davidson, Gotta Store It/Mail It, Malibu Tanning, Pizza Hut, Rainier Family Physical Therapy, The Gun Shop and Windermere Real Estate.

Press Contact: Stacey Corso
Communications Department
(925) 953-1716

Tilt-Con Completes New Sawgrass Pointe II Office Building in Sunrise, FL


SUNRISE, FL – Orlando-based Tilt-Con Corporation completed the new 3-story, 94,353-square-foot Sawgrass Pointe II office building located on N.W. 12th Street in Sunrise, FL, under its contract with Duke Construction, Orlando, FL.

Selected for its unrivaled performance and speed of execution, Tilt-Con utilized its economical system for multi-story tilt-up concrete walls.


Ranked as Florida’s largest tilt-up concrete constructor by Engineering News-Record magazine, Tilt-Con’s scope of work included foundations, slab-on-grade, tilt-up concrete wall panels and elevated decks.

The project was designed by RLC Architects, Boca Raton.

CONTACT:
Kenneth H. Cristol, President, Cristol Marketing Company237 Hunt Club Blvd., Suite 102, Longwood, FL 32779 USA PH 407-774-2515 FX 407-774-6647. Strategic Marketing, Brand Management, Publicity and Advertising, and Corporate Communications.
khc@crismktg.com
http://www.crismktg.com/

Hotel Performance and NBA Champions

ATLANTA, GA – Should anyone really be surprised about this year's old-school NBA finals matchup? Not if they've been tracking the health of the hotel industry.


According to PKF Hospitality Research (PKF-HR), the nation's leader in hospitality research and consulting, there is a strong relationship between hotel industry data and the NVA championship.


Hotel performance measures such as occupancy, room rates, and profits
historically have proved to be accurate predictors of the NBA champions. In the years when the Celtics or Lakers have been champions, the performance of the U.S. hotel industry was surprisingly similar.

The 2007-2008 NBA season marks the 11th time that the Lakers and Celtics have met in the finals. These two historic franchises have combined to win 30 of the 61 NBA championships (soon to be 31 of 62). PKF-HR has been collecting data on hotels since 1930, or 17 years before the first professional basketball championship was played.


Mark Woodworth, (top right photo) president of PKF-HR, explains, “Being a Celtics fan, I wanted to get a better handle on the likely outcome of the series.” Woodworth noted that the correlation between PKF’s data and the NBA playoffs has significant historical precedence. When either the Celtics or Lakers have won the NBA championship, national hotel occupancy has historically decreased.

In their most recent Hotel Horizonssm forecast report, PKF-HR reaffirmed their prediction of a national decline in hotel occupancy for the year end 2008. The reliability of PKF-HR’s hotel data does not end there.


The average annual change in profits for the hotel industry in the 10 years that the Celtics and Lakers have met was 3.1 percent. PKF-HR forecasts that in 2008, profits will increase by 2.9 percent, leading the firm to suggest that these Hotel Performance and NBA Champs 2 June 12, 2008
numbers are more than coincidence.



“We really should not have been surprised
to see the Celtics and Lakers back in the finals. Two plus two equals four as far
as I know,” Woodworth said.

The real question on everyone’s mind is who will be this year’s champion.


“At the risk of offending our clients and colleagues in Los Angeles, all trends
point towards Boston being this year’s NBA champion,” concludes Reed
Woodworth, (top left photo
) vice president of the PKF Consulting Boston office. “National hotel occupancy is expected to decline this year, and of the eight times Boston has beaten the Lakers, occupancy decreased in five of those years.

“To make Boston fans feel even more confident, we need look no further than the annual change in room rate,” Reed added. “In the years that Boston has beaten the Lakers, rates increased by 3.9 percent.

"When Boston has won an NBA
championship against any team, the hotel industry reported a 4.0 percent
increase in rates. This year PKF-HR is forecasting a 4.1 percent increase in
room rates, almost an identical match. Sorry, Lakers fans.”

Bruce Baltin, (middle left photo) senior vice president of the PKF Consulting office in Los Angeles, jokes, “I still expect the Lakers to win. But even if they lose, from a hotel owner’s
perspective, I am happy to be in Los Angeles, where hotel revenue is projected
to grow at twice the rate expected for Boston hotels in 2008.”


“Lest anyone think that I was able to influence how the data was interpreted, we
had a Knick fan, my colleague Robert Mandelbaum,(director of research information services) check the numbers,” Woodworth added.

Contacts:

Mark Woodworth, President, PKF Hospitality Research, 3475 Lenox Road, Suite 720, Atlanta, GA 30326. 404 842 1150, ext. 222.

Chris Daly or Jerry Daly (media), Daly Gray Public Relations, 620 Herndon Parkway, Suite 115, Herndon, VA 20170. 703 435 6293.