BEACHWOOD, Ohio—BGL Real Estate Advisors, a subsidiary of Brown Gibbons Lang & Co., and Cleveland real estate developer Scott Berkowitz announced the groundbreaking on a new Aloft hotel (a vision of W Hotels) in Chagrin Highlands. For the past year, Mr. Berkowitz has worked closely with Beachwood city officials to bring the four-story, 135-room hotel to the city hotel market.
In January 2011, Berkowitz engaged the services of BGL Real Estate Advisors to secure both the debt and equity for the project. The firm’s keen interest in the opportunity resulted in a partnership between Berkowitz and BGL to co-develop the project.
Aloft is an upscale, select service hotel brand that is part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. The developers have selected Midas Hospitality, LLC, a St. Louis-based operator, to manage the hotel.
“Choosing the management company to operate the hotel was the most important decision of all,” Berkowitz said, in an announcement. “I interviewed quite a few quality management companies and determined it was essential to the success of the project to select a company with current Aloft hotel management experience. Midas became the clear choice.”
Kurt Furlong, Midas EVP & principal, sales & marketing, stated, “The Aloft hotel – Beachwood, Ohio will be a great upscale hotel addition to a tremendous market.” Furlong added, “The hotel is ideally located at the doorstep to the brand new $170 million, 53-acre Eaton Corporation World Headquarters, across the street from the new, state-of-the-art, University Hospital Ahuja Medical Center and close to many other Fortune 1000 companies.”
Jeff Steck, Vice President, led the BGL Real Estate Advisors transaction team. Jeff Wild, Partner at Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff served as legal counsel. Mann Architects and Pride One Construction served as architect and general contractor, respectively. Financing was secured through U.S. Bank.
The Aloft hotel is scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2013.
