The Baton Rouge Crowne Plaza hotel has been sold to a Florida group for $18 million.
APM Property Holdings LLC of Jacksonville purchased the 294-room hotel near the intersection of Interstate 10 and College Drive in a deal that was filed last week with the East Baton Rouge Clerk of Court. The seller was BR Capital Holdings Inc. of Illinois.
The previous owners of the hotel recently completed a comprehensive renovation to bring the property up to the latest Crowne Plaza standards, said Tim Osborne with Hunter Hotel Advisors, which brokered the sale. Because of this, there are no plans to change the hotel brand, and APM can take over ownership with minimum upfront costs.
Al Mori of APM said in a statement the hotel has a “great team” in place. Schulte Hospitality has been selected as the property’s management company. Schulte’s portfolio includes the Pontchartrain Hotel and Memoir Warehouse District in New Orleans.
One of the selling points of the hotel is that a “substantial portion” of the Crowne Plaza revenue comes from food and beverage, Hunter officials said. The property at 4728 Constitution Ave. has 35,000 square feet of event space and frequently hosts conferences, large meetings and wedding receptions.
The hotel was built in the 1970s and has flown a number of different flags under the years. It has been a Radisson, Sheraton and a Holiday Inn Select before being rebranded as Crowne Plaza in 2008. Crowne Plaza is a brand under the IHG umbrella.