Dive Brief:
- Apple Hospitality REIT Inc. acquired the 192-room Embassy Suites by Hilton South Jordan Salt Lake City for $36.8 million, the company announced.
- The acquisition follows two other hotel buys from the Virginia-based real estate investment trust in Salt Lake City in October: the 175-room Courtyard by Marriott Salt Lake City Downtown for $48.1 million and the 159-room Hyatt House Salt Lake City/Downtown for $34.3 million.
- With the recent acquisitions, Apple Hospitality, which has a portfolio spanning 224 properties across 37 states, strengthens its presence in Utah. The REIT plans to continue investment in Salt Lake City and its surrounding areas, which have seen “significant economic growth and positive demographic trends in recent years,” CEO Justin Knight said during the REIT’s third-quarter earnings call earlier this month.
Dive Insight:
In a statement, Apple Hospitality President Nelson Knight called South Jordan, Utah, a “thriving, dynamic city in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area that has experienced strong economic, employment and population growth in recent years and is projected to see continued expansion well into the future.”
During the earnings call, CEO Justin Knight expressed a similar sentiment, saying Salt Lake City’s “diversified economy offers a wide variety of business and leisure demand generators,” including from software development, hardware manufacturing and information technology firms based in the city, as well as defense, oil and gas, transportation, tourism, healthcare and financial service industries.
South Jordan, particularly, is home to a diverse range of businesses, including technology, healthcare, distribution services and retail, Apple Hospitality’s announcement noted.
The Embassy Suites hotel is near The Shops at South Town, South Jordan Towne Center and America First Field, as well as a variety of restaurants, performing arts venues, outdoor recreational spaces and the Cottonwood Canyons ski areas. The property is also located next to the Utah Transit Authority’s FrontRunner South Jordan Station, which has direct access to downtown Salt Lake City.
The growth of the Salt Lake City market has driven strong hotel performance this year. As of the end of the third quarter of 2023, the market’s RevPAR increased 8% year over year, Apple Hospitality detailed in the release, citing STR data.
The REIT plans to continue actively pursuing investment opportunities in Salt Lake City and other markets that “cultivate and refine” its current portfolio.
The company currently has two other hotels under contract, including a 260-room Embassy Suites hotel in Madison, Wisconsin, that it expects to acquire for $78.6 million in mid-2024. It also plans to buy a 256-room Motto by Hilton property in downtown Nashville for $96.7 million in 2025 following construction completion.
