GlobeSt.com UPDATE: Gaylord Entertainment Lands Equity Partner for Waikiki Hotel Buy

NASHVILLE-Gaylord Entertainment Co. has found the equity partner it was seeking for the 716-room Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel in Honolulu. The locally based hospitality and entertainment company tied up the property in early April , agreeing to a purchase price of $107 million, and then began negotiating with potential partners that would provide a majority of the equity required to close the transaction.Gaylord now says it has signed a term sheet with a private real estate fund managed by DB Real Estate Opportunities Group that will acquire an 80.1% interest in the asset. The term sheet also calls for ResortQuest, Gaylord’s vacation rental property management company, to manage the property under a long-term management agreement. ResortQuest manages 12 properties in the immediate area. A source at Gaylord told GlobeSt.com in April that the Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel would be the only property under management by ResortQuest that is not set up as a condominium hotel. “At some point we may convert it to condos,” the source said. Renovated in 2002, the Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel is located near Waikiki Beach and Kapiolani Park. The 23-story Main Tower houses 644 guest rooms with private lanais, while the adjacent nine-story Mauka Tower has 72 rooms. The complex has 19,400 sf of retail and restaurant space, 2,900 sf of meeting space and an outdoor swimming pool with views of the Pacific Ocean. Gaylord Entertainment owns and operates three industry-leading brands including Gaylord Hotels, its network of upscale, meetings-focused resorts; ResortQuest; and the Grand Ole Opry, a weekly showcase of country music performers. The company’s entertainment brands and properties include the Radisson Hotel Opryland, Ryman Auditorium, General Jackson Showboat, Springhouse Links, Wildhorse Saloon, and WSM-AM. Gaylord expects its gross investment in the Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel to be $5 million to $7 million.