JW Marriott Phoenix Resort Bought for $865 Million

Ryman Hospitality Properties is acquiring Phoenix’s largest resort for $865 million.

The Nashville-based hospitality real estate investment trust has entered into an agreement to buy the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort, the Phoenix Business Journal reported.

Ryman is purchasing the north Phoenix property from a joint venture between New York-based Elliott Investment Management and Hawaii-based Trinity Real Estate Investments. In 2019, the companies bought the 316-acre property for $602 million.

The 950-key accommodations, located at 5350 East Marriott Drive, include 81 suites and $100 million in recent capital investments, such as a revamped lobby; a new pool and water park; and new restaurants. Renovations on the hotel’s meeting space are planned for completion in the third quarter.

It’s Ryman’s latest step in catering to a city popular with business and group travelers.

“The JW Marriott Desert Ridge has been one of our top acquisition targets for many years,” Mark Fioravanti, president and CEO of Ryman Hospitality, said in a statement, per the Business Journal. “Given the limited availability of marquee group-focused assets that complement our existing portfolio and group strategy, we are thrilled to acquire this resort. Located in a thriving, highly rated meetings market with no new competitive supply under development, this ‘all under one roof’ resort expands our hotel distribution in the Western U.S.”

The deal, expected to close in the next few months, works out to an average of about $911,000 per room. The per-room sale price is just short of the approximately $1 million-per-room price Henderson Park paid for the Arizona Biltmore last year.

The London-based private equity real estate management firm closed a deal for the 703-room Biltmore for $705 million, snapping up the property from Blackstone Real Estate Group’s BRE Hotels & Resorts. BRE bought the Biltmore in 2018 for $403.4 million from Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC Private Limited.

— Chris Malone Méndez