The Los Angeles Marriott Downtown has been purchased out of foreclosure by a Chinese real estate development company that vows to improve the aging hotel, which caters to business travelers.
Shenzhen New World Group Co. got the 469-room hotel at 3rd and Figueroa streets at a substantial discount from its previous sale price as the country’s hotel market continues to reel from recession woes.
The price was not formally disclosed, but industry experts believe Shenzhen paid $60 million, according to consultant Alan Reay of Atlas Hospitality Group. It was last sold in 2007 –- when the hotel business was booming –- for as much as $115 million to Los Angeles investment company Namco Capital Group.
The 14-story hotel was built in 1983 as a luxury Sheraton Grande but has suffered from a lack of maintenance in recent years. The fact that Shenzhen paid about half of its previous price is in keeping with an industry trend, in which hotel values have fallen 50% or more.
LA Times reports Shenzhen plans to spend as much as $13 million on renovations.