Provenance Hotels of Portland and Woodbine Development Corporation of Dallas today announced their joint acquisition of The Governor Hotel in Portland from The Royal Bank of Scotland for an undisclosed purchase price. Provenance, an expert in the region’s boutique hotel market, will become operator of the hotel, effective immediately. Woodbine will serve as developer and asset manager for the partnership, which plans to update/renovate the hotel and transition it into the Provenance Hotels collection. Acquisition financing is being provided by Morgan Stanley Mortgage Capital Holdings, LLC. Hunt Realty Investments, Inc., Woodbine’s financial partner, also is participating in the capitalization of the project.The landmark, 100-room hotel between 10th and 11th avenue in downtown Portland features almost 23,000 square feet of function space, including a 10,000-square-foot grand ballroom, and the popular Jake’s Grill. A true Pacific Northwest architectural treasure, The Governor is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and features elegant historic aesthetics, spacious guest rooms and dramatic penthouse suites with open-air rooftop terraces.
The purchase of The Governor is the first joint endeavor for Provenance and Woodbine, the seventh property under Provenance management and the 12th hotel in Woodbine’s development/asset management project portfolio. Both companies bring extensive experience in historic renovations to The Governor repositioning project.
“We are thrilled to partner with Woodbine to acquire this landmark property and delighted to continue to expand Provenance’s presence in our hometown,” said Bashar Wali, President of Provenance. “We see fantastic opportunities in both this asset and the overall Portland market and look forward to charting an exciting new path for The Governor.”
CBRE’s Chris Burdett and Matthew Behrens marketed the hotel for The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Woodbine was selected from multiple buyers in late 2011 to begin negotiations. The acquisition effort was led by Gordon Sondland, chairman and CEO of Provenance, and Dupree Scovell, who recently launched Woodbine’s West Coast investment/acquisition platform in Los Angeles.
“Provenance’s local market knowledge and expertise in boutique hotel renovations, combined with Woodbine’s nearly 40-year history of hospitality development and investment, have come together to create a dynamic team that can take this magnificent historic property to new levels,” Scovell said.
Sondland added: “As a Portland-grown company and long-time investor in the local community, we are delighted to collaborate with the highly skilled hospitality team at Woodbine, and together we will provide exemplary stewardship of The Governor.”
Provenance and Woodbine are assembling the repositioning/renovation team and will announce a project schedule at a later date.
