$70M Financing Sought for Casino Hotel Buy

SANTO DOMINGO, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC-The soon-to-be complete Hilton Hotel & Casino here is in the process of being sold. The New York-based real estate investment bank Carlton Advisory Services says it has been retained to source about $70 million in acquisition financing for the 22-story beachfront property, though it has not yet named its client.The 254-room luxury hotel is being developed by a joint venture of Dominican real estate developer Jesus Rodriguez Sandoval and Coral Hotels & Resorts. Assuming the buyer’s financing is for 70% of the cost, the sale price will be $100 million.Located on the city’s seafront boulevard, El Malecon, the hotel is the anchor for Malecon Center, a $500 million mixed use development by Sandoval that includes condominium towers and a vertical retail complex. The hotel will be the only flagged beachfront hotel in Santo Domingo and its 30,000-sf casino will be the largest in the Dominican Republic.Other hotel amenities include a 4,644-sf meeting complex with two boardrooms, five flexible meeting rooms and a business center. Additionally, a 7,203-sf ballroom with a 550-person capacity, a 2,312-sf junior ballroom and a 2,430-sf foyer will bring the hotel’s total meeting space to about 17,000 sf. Other components of Malecon Center include three 31-floor condominium towers; a three-level commercial mall with 185 storefronts; a gym, a movie theater; bars; restaurants; banks; offices, and; a 1,000-seat performing arts theater. Its main entrances will face the Washington and Independencia Avenues. In late 2002, Hilton Caribbean, a division of Hilton International, added an all-inclusive brand to its growing portfolio of hotels and resorts when it cut a deal with Coral Hotels & Resorts of the Dominican Republic. Named Coral by Hilton, the brand was launched with four resorts in the Dominican Republic: Coral Canoa Beach Resort & Spa, Coral Costa Caribe Beach Resort & Casino, Coral Hamaca Beach Resort & Casino and Coral Marien Beach Resort & Spa.