The Deal Marks AWH’s First Property in San Francisco
New York — September 13, 2021 — An affiliate of AWH Partners, LLC and The Roxborough Group, LLC has acquired the Villa Florence Hotel and retail in San Francisco for $87.5 million. The partnership plans a full repositioning of the property, including a renovation of all 189 guestrooms as well as the lobby and ground floor restaurant. The hotel also includes over 10,000 square feet of valuable retail along Powell and O’Farrell streets. Spire Hospitality has taken over management of the property.
“We had to move quickly in order to buy this hotel outside of a traditional marketing process,” said Chad Cooley, co-founder and managing partner of AWH Partners. “We are extremely pleased to have the opportunity to partner again with The Roxborough Group, a San Francisco based real estate private equity firm. Together, AWH Partners and The Roxborough Group brought industry-leading expertise to the sourcing, structuring and execution of this hospitality and high street retail investment.”
First opened in 1915, the 189-key property is less than one block from Union Square, the heart of San Francisco’s shopping and tourism district and is one of the best located hotels in the city of San Francisco. Each guestroom has a 55-inch LCD television with premium movie channels, a mini refrigerator, ample workspace, a personal electronic safe and plush pillows and linens. The property has three meeting rooms, totaling 1,400 square feet of meeting space, a business center, a fitness center, valet parking and a lobby bar. The renovations to the property are slated for completion by the end of 2022.
“The opportunity to acquire an exceptionally well-located and historically high-performing hotel in an irreplaceable location and reposition it as San Francisco recovers from the pandemic is very exciting,” said Marc Perrin, managing partner of The Roxborough Group. “This investment is a great opportunity to expand our partnership with AWH with the potential for significant upside in repositioning both the hotel and what has historically been very successful street-front retail.”
Situated along the Powell Street Cable Car Line, Villa Florence is within walking distance of major tourism destinations including Union Square, Chinatown and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) and is also proximate to a range of restaurants, bars, lounges, breweries and distilleries. The hotel’s location, blocks from the Financial District and Moscone Convention Center, is also convenient for business travelers.
“San Francisco, a city with extremely high barriers to entry and very low supply growth, has historically proven an exceptional market in which to invest. We felt now, during a period of transition, was an ideal time to get into the market,” said Jon Rosenfeld, co-founder and managing partner of AWH. “The asset has performed well historically, and we expect it to do the same in the future.”
About AWH Partners, LLC
AWH Partners, LLC (“AWH”) is a privately held real estate investment firm formed by alumni of The Blackstone Group and The Related Companies. Since 2010, AWH and its principals, Russ Flicker, Jon Rosenfeld and Chad Cooley, have amassed a sizeable portfolio of hotels across the country. AWH owns Spire Hospitality, a top-tier, national hospitality platform and AWH Development, a full-service real estate development company, providing complete vertical integration in the hospitality investment space. For more information, please visit www.awhpartners.com.
About The Roxborough Group, LLC
The Roxborough Group (“Roxborough”) is a private real estate investment firm founded in 2013. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, the firm has a broad mandate to invest in all real estate asset classes, both directly and with operating partners. Roxborough focuses on opportunistic, value-add and transitional real estate assets, high-yielding real estate debt, real estate-related operating businesses, as well as high quality, lower risk and longer duration real estate investments. For more information, please visit www.theroxboroughgroup.com.
About Spire Hospitality
Spire Hospitality, led by CEO Chris Russell, is a third-party operator of 6,000 room keys and 300,000 square feet of meeting space across 17 states. The Spire portfolio, with a focus on large, full-service hotels, includes unique independent properties and premier branded assets across Hilton Hotels & Resorts (HLT), Marriott International (MAR) and InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG). Spire Hospitality offers expertise in all facets of hospitality management and is committed to preserving, protecting and enhancing the value of hotel real estate. www.spirehotels.com.