SAN ANTONIO-Gaylord Entertainment Co., owner of Opryland, the home of the Grand Ole Opry, has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase the 508-room Westin La Cantera Resort in San Antonio for $252.5 million. The Nashville-based company also will buy an adjacent 90 acres of undeveloped land to accommodate a $250-million expansion that will take the property to more than 1,000 rooms.

Harry Curtis, a hotels and lodging analyst with JPMorgan in New York City, says Gaylord’s decision to acquire and expand La Cantera could help San Antonio book larger conventions that previously had overlooked the city due to a shortage of convention-grade hotel rooms. “Our sense is that group demand is strong for San Antonio,” he tells GlobeSt.com. “San Antonio has one of the highest growth rates of new room supply over the next three years, with nearly 7% growth per year through 2009. However, with the exception of a new 1,000-room Grand Hyatt and 1,000-room JW Marriott being built, most of the new supply is in the midscale and economy segments.”

Gaylord CEO Colin V. Reed says the purchase marks an important step in the company’s strategy to increase distribution to stockholders through acquisitions rather than relying strictly on new development. He says all other Gaylord properties were ground-up developments. Its most recent development was the 2,000-room Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, MD, which opened in April and being touted as the largest resort hotel on the East Coast.

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