BY GULLI ARNASON From Financial News UK

Representatives of North America-based luxury hospitality real estate development firm Gencom announced that its affiliates in partnership with Private Equity Group (PEG) have sold the 295-room Marriott Grand Cayman Beach Resort to affiliates of London & Regional for an undisclosed sum.

The sale was brokered by CBRE´s Miami office, and the hotel will continue to be operated by Marriott International.

Located directly on Seven Mile Beach, the property is in one of the highest barrier to entry markets in the Caribbean.

Gencom was founded in 1987 by Karim Alibhai as a hospitality and residential-mixed use real estate investment and development firms, offering expertise in many distinct areas of the industry including finance and capital markets, asset management, design and development, M&A and equity management and residential sales & marketing.

Private Equity Group is a private equity fund based in Fort Myers, Florida. The company directs equity investments in land, operating businesses, land development, apartments, commercial property and residential master planned communities.

L&R is comprised of investors in real estate and specifically in the hotel sector. L&R´s hotel investments include Hilton hotels at Park Lane, Green Park and Trafalgar Square, as well as the Strand Palace, Marriott Marble Arch and the Cumberland Hotel in London.

For more on this story go to: http://www.financial-news.co.uk/32486/2015/12/marriott-grand-cayman-beach-resort-sold-to-affiliates-o/

IMAGE: http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/gcmgc-grand-cayman-marriott-beach-resort/

Related story:

Gencom Completes Sale of the 295-Room Marriott Grand Cayman Beach Resort

From Hospitality Business News

MIAMI–(hospitalitybusinessnews.com)–Representatives of Gencom  today announced that its affiliates in partnership with Private Equity Group (PEG) have sold the 295-room (including 22 suites) Marriott Grand Cayman Beach Resort to affiliates of London & Regional for an undisclosed sum. The sale was brokered by CBRE’s Miami office, and the hotel will continue to be operated by Marriott International.

“The Marriott Grand Cayman Beach Resort is a world-class destination that was struggling from the after-effects of Hurricane Ivan and needed a bold, new vision when we acquired it in 2006,” said Tom Bezold, Gencom CFO. “We completely repositioned the property, partnered with PEG in 2011 and refinanced the property’s debt with the first CMBS loan outside of the US since the Great Recession. In 2013-2014, Ownership invested more than $15 million to redefine the property. We believe the property still has excellent upside potential, but it no longer meets our core investment strategy. Our plan is to continue to aggressively seek hotel real estate investment opportunities that match up with our turn-around expertise.”

Located directly on Seven Mile Beach, the property is in one of the highest barrier to entry markets in the Caribbean. Following completion of its most recent renovation, the resort received a number of prestigious awards for operations, design and renovation, including Marriott’s 2014 Hotel of the Year Award within the Caribbean/Latin American Region and Marriott’s Mustang Award for Innovation for its “Beach House” design inspiration.

“This has been a classic case of taking a great resort with a number of difficult problems and making it into something few could foresee,” said OJ Buigas, CEO of Private Equity Group. “Through active asset management and a vision of what the property could become, the resort has performed magnificently to become one of the prize assets of the Marriott resort portfolio. We wish the new ownership continued good fortune and prosperity with this hotel gem as they take it through its next phase.”

For more on this story go to: http://hospitalitybusinessnews.com/20151224225/gencom-completes-sale-of-the-295-room-marriott-grand-cayman-beach-resort