Ann Arbor Marriott at Eagle Crest, Ypsilanti, Michigan

Long And Cox Properties, Inc. and Richfield Hospitality along with a group of investors purchased the Ypsilanti Marriott in January, 2006. This hotel had 235 rooms with approximately 13,500 square feet of meeting space, bar and a restaurant. The hotel is connected to an approximate 25,000 square foot conference center and is surrounded by an 18 hole championship golf course.

After purchase, Long and Cox Properties, Inc. oversaw an approximate $5,000,000.00 renovation of the hotel that included:

  1. The elimination of one of the bars and the creation in its place of a second ballroom, the Elizabeth Ann, along with the complete refurbishment of the rest of the hotel’s meeting space,

  2. The complete refurnishing of all the guestrooms and parlor rooms and the enlarging and redesign of the concierge lounge,

  3. The complete reconfiguration of the hotel’s lobby under the new “Great Room Concept” by Marriott initiative.

  4. Building the “View Bar” in the hotel’s lobby which required the demolishing of the old lobby bar and the total reconfiguration of the lobby area in keeping with the “Great Room” initiative.

  5. The building of a completely new 1,000 square foot exercise room with state of the art equipment which overlooks the golf course and Lake Ford,

  6. The reconfiguring of the hotel’s front exterior to allow for a better sense of arrival, and

  7. The building of a wedding pavilion and the redesign of the land immediately behind the hotel to improve the view from lobby and restaurant.

After the renovation and the completion of a dramatic overhaul of much of the hotel’s executive staff, the hotel is in the midst of a substantial turnaround in its revenues and profitability. We are very excited about the future prospects of this property.

Doubletree Charlottesville, Charlottesville, Virginia

Long And Cox Properties, Inc. and Richfield Hospitality along with a group of investors purchased the Doubletree Charlottesville in February, 2007. This 240 room hotel is one of two major meeting hotels in Charlottesville with over 20,000 square feet of meeting space.

We are currently completing the approximate $3,500,000.00 renovation which includes:

  1. The complete refurbishment of all the hotel’s meeting space which includes the Promenade Ballroom overlooking the pool and garden area,

  2. The complete refurbishment of seven of the nine floors of guestrooms,

  3. The building and equipping of a new 1,000 square foot health club facility adjacent to the indoor pool area,

  4. The building of a new lobby gift shop to supply our guests with typical hotel amenities and University of Virginia and other area attractions materials,

  5. The complete renovation and concept creation for all food and beverage outlets, and

  6. The building of a wedding pavilion and seating area where the outdoor pool had previously been located.

Once the renovation is completed, we believe that Richfield’s superior management skills will garner better than market index occupancies and average daily rates for this already profitable hotel. In fact, despite the current issues in the economy, this hotel was recently sold on April 30, 2008 to an investor prior to the completion of the renovation.

Hotel Highland at Five Points South, Birmingham, Alabama

Long And Cox Properties, Inc., Richfield Hospitality and Peggy Dye and Associates purchased the 63 unit Pickwick Hotel in the South Five Points area of downtown Birmingham, Alabama in February, 2007. After closing the hotel down for six months, the renovated hotel was re-opened as the Hotel Highland at Five Points South.

The hotel now consists of 63 completely renovated units of which 28 are one bedroom suites and the hotel boasts of its new approximate 50 seat martini bar called the “H Bar”. Rather than just renovating the hotel, it has been repositioned as arguably the best high-end boutique hotel in Birmingham.

This hotel showcases the unfettered design work of Peggy Dye and Associates and the strong management efforts of Richfield Hospitality. After a slow start in its first few months of operation, this hotel is now exceeding its competitive group in both occupancy and average rate.

Doubletree Burlington, Burlington, Vermont

Long And Cox Properties and Richfield Hospitality, along with a group of investors, purchased the 159 unit Doubletree Burlington in November, 2007. The $850,000 renovation should be completed by the end of June, 2008. This will be a minor renovation with the most of the work consisting of building a hotel store, installing new exercise equipment in the health club, refurbishing the restaurant and a complete remodeling of the bathrooms in the 126 regular guestrooms. (The 33 suites were built within the last five years and did not require refurbishment of their bathrooms.)

Operations by Richfield have continued to be excellent. When this hotel was purchased, it was rated as one of the top six within the Doubletree chain and it continues to operate at this high level.

Sheraton Hotel, Jacksonville, Florida

Long and Cox Properties, Inc., in conjunction with Driftwood Hospitality and a group of investors, are constructing a 159 room Sheraton Hotel and a 7,000 square foot Shula 347 Restaurant on the Southside of Jacksonville. This hotel is under construction with a planned opening in late June, 2008. Currently, Driftwood is feverishly working on the opening of the hotel and restaurant.

This is Long and Cox Properties, Inc. only active new build construction project. The hotel is located in the center of growth for northeast Florida. By marrying two strong brands, Shula’s and Sheraton, with an outstanding location, we anticipate this being a very profitable project for our partners.

Lake Wales Holiday Inn Express, Lake Wales, Florida

Long And Cox Properties, Inc. is partnering with Vanguard Associates Holding in their development of an 82 room Holiday Inn Express in Lake Wales, Florida. This prototype Express should begin construction this summer with a planned completion in the summer of 2009.

L. & C. has primarily assisted Vanguard with their relationship with Intercontinental Hotels and Resorts and in the permitting, development and construction areas. Vanguard traditionally has been a shopping center and office building owner/developer but its principals have invested in other Long And Cox projects in the past.

Dayton and Savannah Fairfield Inns, Dayton, Ohio and Savannah, Georgia

Long And Cox Properties, Inc. along with a group of investors purchased the Dayton, Ohio and Savannah, Georgia 135 room Fairfield Inns in April of 2005. Over the next eighteen months to two years, these hotels were completely renovated at a cost of over $12,000 per key and repositioned within their markets.

The repositioning of the hotels was dramatic! In the guestrooms, completely new wall coverings, window treatments, carpeting, furniture and bedding. In the bathrooms, new granite surrounds, rounded shower curtains and wall coverings. Additions to the hotels included a guest laundry, an exercise room and two additional room bays for the breakfast area. The lobby, breakfast and front desk areas were completely redesigned by Peggy Dye and Associates. One primary difference exists between the two hotels. In
Dayton, we modernized the hotel by redoing its exterior finish changing it from vinyl siding to stucco. In Savannah, the exterior was already stucco.

While there have been a number of challenges with these hotels, after these renovations, these hotels are now posed to capture more than their fair share of local market.

Rogers Fairfield Inn & Suites, Rogers, Arkansas

This 99 unit new build Fairfield Inn & Suites was developed in 2001 by Long And Cox Properties, Inc., Inter-Mountain Management and Gary Brandon Construction with a group of investors. In March of 2008, this hotel was sold to Apple Hospitality, a hotel REIT.

This represented the first full cycle project where Long And Cox Properties, Inc. developed a project from inception to completion, operated the hotel for a number of years and then sold it.

This hotel, during Long And Cox Properties, Inc. ownership, received the award of Fairfield Inn & Suites Hotel of the Year in 2002 and was the Marriott’s 500 Fairfield Inn Hotel franchised. In addition, the investors on this project received all their money back within 18 months of the hotel’s opening!

 


© 2003 Long and Cox Properties, Inc., All Rights Reserved.