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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:
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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,
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The complete refurnishing of all
the guestrooms and parlor rooms and the enlarging and redesign of
the concierge lounge,
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The complete reconfiguration of
the hotel’s lobby under the new “Great Room Concept” by
Marriott initiative.
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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.
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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,
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The reconfiguring of the hotel’s
front exterior to allow for a better sense of arrival, and
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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:
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The complete refurbishment of all
the hotel’s meeting space which includes the Promenade Ballroom
overlooking the pool and garden area,
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The complete refurbishment of
seven of the nine floors of guestrooms,
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The building and equipping of a
new 1,000 square foot health club facility adjacent to the indoor
pool area,
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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,
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The complete renovation and
concept creation for all food and beverage outlets, and
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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!
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