Shifting sands fail to derail new Denver convention center
A swirl of acquisitions has changed the names associated with the new conference center and hotel project outside Denver. But the project itself is back on track, with Marriott and Starwood now playing a role.
The delayed Gaylord hotel and conference center in Aurora, the fifth Gaylord hotel in the US, expects to break ground late next year.
It will include 400,000 square feet of meeting space and 1,500 rooms, and cost $800 million to build.
Though hoteliers argued that the new center would just compete with Denver for the same groups, Aurora last May was awarded $81.5 million in tax incentives for the project.
Before the work began, though, Gaylord sold its hotel business to Marriott International Inc. Gaylord is now a real estate investment trust, called Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc.
Marriott has agreed to operate the hotel under its new Gaylord name.
The site on which the project will be built, meanwhile, is owned by LNR Property LLC, which last month was acquired by Starwood Property Trust and Starwood Capital Group for $1.06 billion.
LNR, the former investment arm of homebuilder Lennar Corp., now operates as a subsidiary of Starwood.
By Cheryl Rosen
Cheryl
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