Former Le Meridien Hotel in Louisiana Trades Hands for $91.5M

NEW ORLEANS, LA-LaSalle Properties of Bethesda, MD closed this week on the sale of the 494-room former Le Meridien-branded luxury hotel to Orlando, FL-based CNL Hospitality Corp. for $91.5 million–$44.8 million in cash and $46.7 million in debt.

The hotel operated as Le Meridien New Orleans until Dec. 19, when LaSalle severed the relationship. On Dec. 20, Interstate Hotels & Resorts became the new operator and the property was renamed New Orleans Grande Hotel. As of earlier this week, the property at 614 Canal St. has been re-branded as a J.W. Marriott, which is Marriott International’s self-titled luxury brand, and a Marriott subsidiary is operating the hotel for CNL.

CNL, a public but unlisted REIT, said in recent SEC filings that it intends to spend approximately $10 million on improvements over its first two years of ownership. Neither CNL nor Marriott returned GlobeSt.com phone calls seeking further comment.