Urgo Buys One Montreal Hotel, Developing Two Others

MONTREAL-On the heels of acquiring the Residence Inn by Marriott in Downtown Montreal for $17 million, Bethesda, MD-based Urgo Hotels says it will develop a $36.7-million, two-hotel complex at the Montreal International Airport. The airport hotel complex would be developed in partnership with the Real Estate Group of Marathon Asset Management. Construction is scheduled to begin in May 2005 and open in July 2006. The 330-room development will consist of a 170-unit Residence Inn by Marriott and a 160-room Courtyard by Marriott, built on a 7.1-acre land parcel at Trans-Canada Highway exit 63 and Cavendish Boulevard. Montreal-based Divco Limited is the project’s general contractor.The hotels will be housed in adjacent six-story towers connected with a low-rise public space structure. The two properties will offer a different type of hotel experience and have separate entrances and lobby areas. The hotels will share certain amenities and services, including a restaurant and lobby lounge, indoor swimming pool and spa, a health club, a business center, gift shop and 6,000 sf of meeting space. In addition to the hotel complex, the partnership owns an adjacent 3.25-acre land parcel zoned for commercial use. The duo plans to either sell or develop the site. Potential uses for the site include a build-to-suit office building, future expansion of the planned hotels or the addition of a third hotel. Urgo owns and operates 17 upscale hotels under Marriott and Hilton flags in major markets in Canada and the United States. Last week, Urgo announced the closing of its $17-million acquisition of the Residence Inn by Marriott in Downtown Montreal. The 25-story, 190-unit property at 2045 Peel St. was acquired in partnership with “a major real estate opportunity fund,” according to the announcement. If the planned hotels are built, it would bring to eight the number of properties owned and operated by Urgo Hotels in Canada, including seven in Quebec province. “We entered the Canadian market eight years ago with our first project and continue to find the market very attractive,” says Urgo SVP Kevin Urgo. “We continue to seek acquisitions and new development opportunities.”