Michael Dell-affiliated BDT & MSD Partners Buys Stake in Auberge

A firm that makes investments on behalf of Austin billionaire Michael Dell and other third-party investors is taking a stake in a luxury hotel firm.

New York-based BDT & MSD Partners has made a minority investment in Auberge Resorts Collection to bolster the hotel firm’s growth on a global scale, the Dallas Morning News reported. Exact terms of the company’s ownership stake are unclear.

The partnership is linked to one of Dallas’ largest real estate projects. A venture of BDT & MSD Partners, Trammell Crow Company, Retail Connection and Highland Park Village Associates is spearheading the 4-acre, $268 million Knox Street development. The mixed-use project will feature a 140-room boutique hotel, operated by Auberge Resorts Collection.

“Auberge is a world-class manager of distinctive luxury hotel properties, with an exceptional track record of delivering curated guest experiences in the world’s leading hospitality markets,” Coburn Packard, partner and head of real estate at BDT & MSD, told the outlet.

Auberge’s portfolio comprises more than two dozen luxury hotels across the United States, Latin America and Europe, including the Bowie House hotel in Fort Worth’s Cultural District, which opened last year. The firm, an affiliate of Houston-based Friedkin Group since 2013, has over a dozen additional projects in the pipeline, the outlet said.

BDT & MSD Partners, with a real estate portfolio exceeding $11 billion, has invested in prestigious hotel properties such as the Four Seasons Maui at Wailea and Four Seasons Hualalai in Hawaii. The company’s holdings include a diverse array of high-end real estate assets spanning residential, commercial and hospitality sectors.

Alongside the Auberge hotel, the Knox Street project is slated for 48 luxury condominiums, a 150,000-square-foot office building, 100,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and a 27-story, 173-unit apartment building. A half-acre park with access to Katy Trail will anchor the development.

—Quinn Donoghue