AWH Partners, LLC and The Lane Organization, LLC Announce Purchase of Boca Raton Bridge Hotel

PRLog (Press Release) - Sep. 4, 2012 - AWH Partners, LLC (AWH) -- a joint venture of Winston Harton Holdings, LLC (WHH) and August Group Ventures, LLC (AGV) -- in partnership with The Lane Organization, LLC today announced the acquisition and planned reinvention of the Boca Raton Bridge Hotel, the waterfront boutique hotel renowned for its ideal location on the Intracoastal Waterway, panoramic water views from every guest room, and offering the only on-the-water public restaurant dining in Boca Raton. The transaction price was not disclosed.  

According to AWH Principal Russ Flicker, the Bridge Hotel will remain one of Boca’s most notable, continuing to operate as a traditional hotel, yet repositioned and transformed to be more relevant and exciting to meet the desires and needs of today’s discerning vacationers as well as social and business guests. The redevelopment plan includes entirely new hospitality and dining concepts, expanded waterfront amenities, as well as a new dock flanking the property’s entire Lake Boca perimeter so that diners and hotel guests will soon have the option to arrive by boat. Extensive renovations of guestrooms, restaurants and public spaces will begin in spring 2013.

“We are very excited to add the Bridge Hotel to our collection of repositioned luxury hotel properties,” noted Flicker, who along with many of the principals and senior management of the joint venture and partnership has a long respected history of successful hotel and residential development in South Florida, and in Boca Raton specifically. “Our past experience in Boca Raton was extremely positive; we are passionate about the market and its assets, and very much look forward to our seasoned team of designers and consultants completely transforming the hotel into a premier South Florida experience with its own newly positioned distinctive signature in the destination.”

AWH Principal Chad Cooley reported that Lane Hospitality (unrelated to The Lane Organization) has been awarded the hotel management contract to guide the reinvention of The Bridge Hotel to a 4-Star position leveraging the firm’s seasoned expertise and deep experience in renovating, repositioning and operating first-class independent hotels and resorts. For the Bridge Hotel transformation, Lane Hospitality brings more than 30 successful years experience managing hotels and resorts, including both unique independents and leading brands such as Hilton, Marriott, InterContinental Hotels Group and others. Lane Hospitality President & CEO Bill DeForrest is a member of the InterContinental Hotel Owners’ Association Board of Directors and Lane Hospitality’s entire executive team is involved with brand and statewide hotel associations.

“The Bridge Hotel property complements our operational and repositioning experience with independent hotels and resorts,” noted DeForrest. “Working with the ownership team we will, ensure a successful repositioning that will benefit the greater Boca Raton community and local tourism industry as well as deliver a profitable return to its ownership. We challenge our hotels to strive for excellence and rely on our leadership team of professionals to ensure an impeccable guest experience at each property we manage.”
 
The seasoned team of AGV and WHH bring extensive experience in hospitality investment, development and management. The team formed AWH Partners to pursue hospitality investments requiring capital infusions and/or repositioning.

“Our partnership’s mandate is to identify and acquire outstanding assets in key locations that require operational and physical repositioning to achieve their highest and best use,” added Flicker. “For us, acquiring the Bridge was ideal. Not only is the property an established community icon in an enviable locale with a longtime history serving as the locals’ favorite ‘guesthouse’ for visiting friends, family, and colleagues, it affords our partnership the opportunity to return to South Florida to expand our presence and add yet another ‘hotel repositioning success story’ to our burgeoning portfolio.”

About AWH Partners, LLC
AWH Partners, LLC, a joint venture between August Group Ventures, LLC and Winston Harton Holdings, LLC, offers an experienced institutional investment and management platform with dedicated capital. For more information, visit www.awhpartners.com.

About August Group Ventures, LLC
August Group Ventures is a privately held real estate investment, development and management firm founded in 2009 by New York-based Related Companies veteran Chad Cooley to pursue opportunities in the ailing hospitality market.  August Group owns and manages hotels around the United States and seeks opportunities to invest in and manage assets requiring capital, repositioning and turn-around expertise. For more information, visit www.augustgroupventures.com.

About Winston Harton Holdings, LLC
Winston Harton Holdings, LLC (WHH) was established by Russell Flicker and Jonathan Rosenfeld to acquire distressed, value-added and operationally intensive real estate assets through equity and debt. Its principals have extensive experience and complementary skill sets in the real estate sector, including acquisitions (private transactions and public securities), capital markets and asset management and asset repositioning. WHH will partner with both traditional institutional capital as well as private pools of capital to pursue transactions ranging from $10 - $250 mm.  For more information, visit www.whhllc.com.

About The Lane Organization LLC
The Lane Organization LLC (“Lane Organization”) was founded by Clifford P. Lane and his son Matthew in 2011. Focusing on luxury hotels, the Lane Organization enters into cities to reposition assets and team up with management firms who can assimilate to their locations while standing out amongst the competition. The Lane Organization emphasizes building strong partnerships while maintaining the company’s core ideas, beliefs, and values to ensure the success of all of its properties. For more information please visit www.thelaneorganization.com.

About Lane Hospitality
Lane Hospitality offers expertise in all facets of hospitality management and is committed to preserving, protecting and enhancing the value of hotel real estate. For more information, visit www.lanehospitality.com.

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