HFF closes sale of Daytona Hilton for LNR Property

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler L.P. (HFF) announced that it closed the sale of a 744-room  oceanfront hotel in Daytona Beach on  behalf of Miami Beach-based LNR Property.

HFF had marketed the Hilton Daytona Beach and closed the sale at an undisclosed price Tuesday on behalf of an affiliate of LNR, a former unit of Miami-based home builder Lennar Corp.

The Hilton Daytona Beach is a two-building oceanfront property with four restaurants and more than 60,000 square feet of meeting space.

The property is adjacent to a 110,000-square-foot retail center with additional restaurants and a movie theater, which was not part of the sale.

The hotel is less than five miles from Daytona International Speedway and Daytona International Airport.

Smith Travel Research reported that revenue per hotel room in Daytona Beach grew 13.3 percent in the first six months of the year, compared to the same period last year. The comparable growth rates were 18 percent in Melbourne, 15.5 percent in Fort Myers, 8.7 percent in Orlando and 7.4 percent in Miami.

“This transaction is a strong testament to the recovery of Daytona Beach and Florida’s secondary resort markets, which are growing at a faster rate in 2015 than the state’s primary resort destinations like Miami,” Max Comess, managing director of HFF, said in a prepared statement.

“The international interest among investors for the Hilton further confirmed that Daytona Beach has all the necessary ingredients and infrastructure to be the next Fort Lauderdale or Clearwater Beach,” Comess said.

HFF did not identify the buyer, whom the Chicago office of Latham & Watkins L.P. represented. The Miami office of Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod represented LNR.