MINNEAPOLIS—Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, LP has just secured $25 million in refinancing for the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Hotel Minneapolis, a 229-key, full-service hotel in downtown Minneapolis. HFF worked on behalf of the borrower, Wheelock Street Capital LLC, to secure the three-year, floating-rate loan with two optional one-year extensions with BBVA Compass Bank. Wheelock will use the loan proceeds to refinance the loan it assumed when it acquired the property in 2012.

“We are seeing a lot of opportunities to finance hotels that have either maturing loans, as was the case in this transaction where the borrower had to assume some low leverage CMBS debt, or acquisitions where the sponsor is putting a large improvement program to bring property to modern standards required by the hotel,” Steven Klein, managing director of New York-based HFF, tells GlobeSt.com.
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Since acquiring the 12-story DoubleTree Suites, Wheelock has renovated its exterior, lobby, elevators, public areas and parking area, Klein adds. It also plans to make additional capital expenditures between 2015 and 2016, which will go to update additional guest rooms, F&B space/equipment, building systems, and parking and public spaces. The previous owners had updated the lobby, food and beverage outlets, all public spaces and all guestrooms.

The 150,752 square-foot hotel is within walking distance to the Minnesota Convention Center, Orpheum Theatre, University of St. Thomas – Minneapolis and the Loring Greenway. Furthermore, it is across the street from Target's corporate headquarters. The hotel features 1,162 square feet of meeting space, a second-floor merchandising suite, parking garage, 24-hour business and fitness centers, in-house Starbucks and Lot 57, a full-service restaurant and lounge.