Gary Griff, the Cushman & Wakefield director who brokered both sides of the deal with partner Joe DeJager, tells GlobeSt.com that the delay was caused by overbuilding in the market and a slowing economy that, in turn, caused the hospitality industry to lose favor with lenders. "With some creative restructuring of terms we were able to negotiate very favorable seller financing that permitted the deal to go forward and without a price reduction," says Griff.

The Imperial Hotel is a nine-story hotel built in 1908. The 90,000-sf structure is located on the corner of Southwest Broadway and Stark, with TYPHOON Restaurant as a ground floor tenant. The restaurant will keep operating during the remodel, which is being financed by US Bank. The hotel will reopen in May as the St. Lucia Hotel, a European boutique-style property.

The purchase price equates to a per room price of $81,250. Add in the cost of the remodel, and the figure jumps to $104,687. "It's a pretty fair price," says Griff, explaining that today's replacement cost can run as high as $125,000 per room. Regarding the overbuilding, Griff says as soon as the new 329-room Hilton tower -- the only hotel under cosntruction -- is complete this June, there shouldn't be any more new product for some time, which should give the Downtown market time to recover lost RevPar initiated by ogverbuilding and then exacerbated by the economy and the terrorist attacks.