HOLLYWOOD, Calif./NEW YORK, N.Y.—Loews Hotels & Resorts today announced that the company has entered into a contract to acquire the 632-room Renaissance Hotel & Spa in Hollywood, Calif., from CIM Group. The acquisition is expected to be completed June 16 and the property will rebrand immediately to the Loews Hollywood Hotel.
The company is finalizing the planning of an estimated $26 million renovation slated to begin this later this year with an expected completion during the summer of 2013. The renovation will be completed in phases to minimize disruptions to guests. Loews Hotels & Resorts will oversee the renovation and manage the hotel.
“This is the first acquisition in our new strategy to approximately double the brand’s portfolio to more than 30 hotels over the next three to five years,” stated Paul Whetsell, who joined the company as president and CEO earlier this year. “With access to discretionary capital to acquire, develop and joint venture, we are uniquely poised to fill our distribution gaps in major North American gateway cities, such as Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., New York, Dallas, Toronto and Seattle.”
The hotel anchors the connecting mixed-use Hollywood & Highland Center, a 460,000-square-foot, five-story structure featuring more than 80 specialty retail outlets. The complex offers a wide range of entertainment options, including 26 restaurants and eateries, two nightclubs, seven movie screens, eight bars and 12 bowling lanes. The master-planned development also houses the Dolby Theatre, home to the Academy Awards presentation and features IRIS, Cirque du Soleil’s first resident show in Los Angeles. The hotel is also readily accessible to the 17,000-seat Hollywood Bowl amphitheater and Universal Studios Hollywood theme park and movie studio.
“Expanding our system and customer base is the focus of Loews Hotels as we continue to offer unique and distinct hospitality,” Whetsell noted. “The Loews Hollywood Hotel will nicely complement our 342-room Loews Santa Monica Beach hotel.”
Located along the renowned Walk of Fame in Hollywood, the 20-story hotel offers 65,000 square feet of meeting space. Its 25,000-square-foot ballroom will continue to be served by Wolfgang Puck.
The hotel also offers a fifth-floor, 6,400-square-foot spa with seven treatment rooms located adjacent to the property’s 12,000-square-foot terrace and swimming pool.