Magna Hospitality Group sold an Evanston hotel to a local investor who has been on a buying spree in recent years.
The Rhode Island-based firm sold the Hilton Garden Inn at 1818 Maple Avenue to a venture led by Parag Patel for $25 million, or $140,000 per key, after buying for $23 million in 2016. Magna had put nearly $7 million into renovations to the property since purchasing it. Magna’s purchase had been part of a $60 million portfolio.
Public records show Patel took out an $18 million mortgage for the purchase and additional documents shared with The Real Deal show the sale totaled nearly $25 million.
Patel said the hotel will be the first Hilton property in his portfolio and will hopefully benefit from Northwestern University’s $800 million football stadium project. The stadium will host concerts in addition to sporting events.
The hospitality industry took a major hit during the pandemic but the sector is slowly recovering.
Revenue per available room grew 6 percent in Chicago in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same quarter last year, according to JLL, though inflation has been cutting into revenues.
The purchase is the latest in a string of acquisitions in the Chicago area led by Patel.
Last month, his venture acquired the 107-room Home2 Suites by Hilton in Schaumburg for $13.1 million or $122,400 per key.
Last fall, a Patel venture bought a Marriott Courtyard hotel at 2950 South River Road in Des Plaines for $21 million, or $105,000 per key. They secured a loan from Midland States Bank and closed on the sale of the 200-room property with plans to start a $5 million renovation.The hotel is next to the Rivers Casino and close to O’Hare International Airport.
The same buyers were also behind the purchase of a 155-key Aloft Hotel in Bolingbrook last year. They snagged the property for $17 million out of a foreclosure sale. The price was $109,700 per key.
That hotel’s prior owner, LTD, had defaulted on a $26 million loan leading to the foreclosure. It stopped making loan payments in April 2020, when the hotel’s revenue stream, deprived by the pandemic, wasn’t enough to cover its debt service and operational costs. The foreclosure suit was filed in 2021.
Editor’s note: this post has been updated to include the sale price and cost of renovations to the Hilton Garden Inn.