The Rhode Island Convention Center Authority wants out of the hotel business and has put its four-star Westin Hotel up for sale.
“The principal motivation behind selling the Westin is to get a private developer to build a 200-room hotel on property adjacent to the Westin so we have a bigger headquarters base for the convention center. Beyond that, the state would also be eliminating any risk associated with owning a hotel,” said Convention Center Authority Executive Director James P. McCarvill.
The authority voted to put the hotel up for bid at its board meeting Aug. 26. The group will entertain bids on the downtown hotel on West Exchange Street starting this week and the board will likely review the bids at its meeting Nov. 23.
Seifert Systems Invests in Energy Efficiency to Strengthen Operations
For manufacturers, energy is more than just another operating expense. It plays a critical role…
Learn More
“The bid invitation is to see what the private sector can do. Over the last nine or 10 months, we have received a number of serious inquiries,” McCarvill said. “In this environment of low interest rates and a wave of activity in the hotel industry, we want to see what can be done.”
Unsolicited bids for the Westin started rolling in following comments by Gov. Don Carcieri that the state should get out of the hotel business, McCarvill said.
The Convention Center Authority solicited proposals for the hotel in 1998, but offers were not satisfactory.
This is the right time to put the property up for bid again, said McCarvill, because the hotel market is active and the state’s contract with Starwood Worldwide Hotels & Resorts expires in May 2005. Starwood is the company contracted to manage and operate the Westin and has the right to refuse any bids until the contract expires.
Bids between perspective developers and the Convention Center Authority will be confidential as offers are analyzed, McCarvill said. The asking price for the Westin is not being disclosed.
“We are looking for someone to buy this with the unconditional promise to expand. Without expansion, selling the hotel wouldn’t be a good deal for us,” he said.
The state borrowed $335 million worth of bonds to build the Westin and the convention center and owes $285 million, McCarvill said.
The Westin brings in $8.9 million in annual revenue.
The hotel was built in 1994 and renovated in 2002. It is 25 stories high and
has 363 hotel rooms. It connects to the Rhode Island Convention Center and Providence
Place mall.
