CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Chicago real estate investor with local roots has purchased eight Northeast Ohio hotels, establishing a 750-room foothold in the market with an eye on more investments here.
Public records show that affiliates of Singerman Real Estate paid $21.1 million for the properties, all Extended Stay America hotels, in late November.
The hotels are in Brooklyn, Copley, Middleburg Heights, North Olmsted, Orange and Westlake. Their sale is part a larger, 14-property deal including sites in Georgia and Illinois.
The previous owner and manager was Extended Stay America, a North Carolina-based hospitality company that has been shedding dozens of lower-performing hotels and entering franchise agreements with buyers.
In addition to acquiring existing properties, Singerman committed to adding seven newly constructed or converted hotels to the Extended Stay America chain over time. Sandpiper Hospitality of Virginia stepped in to manage the hotels for Singerman.
Seth Singerman, managing principal, said the local hotels are his firm’s first purchases in the Cleveland area, but unlikely to be the last. A Pepper Pike native, Singerman expressed enthusiasm about the market and said he’s looking for other opportunities across all types of commercial real estate.
“We invest on behalf of a $500 million real estate private-equity fund, and we invest across all major asset classes, including office, retail, hotel, industrial, multifamily and senior housing,” he said. “And we do that with a national footprint. We happen to be Chicago-based, but ... we more broadly are believers in the continued strength of the economy in Northeast Ohio.”
Real estate filings show that individual pricing for the local hotels ranged from $1.45 million to $5 million. Extended Stay America recently spruced up the properties as part of a $1 billion-plus, portfolio-wide renovation program.
Singerman said the hotels were appealing because of their locations and strong demand for lower-cost lodging from Northeast Ohio companies and individual travelers. “We see that value proposition and the ability to enhance further operations,” he said.
Extended Stay America now owns only one Cleveland-area hotel, at 3625 Orange Place in Orange, records show.