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Press release: ACRON to build five-star Solis Hotel Two Porsche Drive in Atlanta, Georgia, at the new Porsche Cars North America campus
11.01.2016
ACRON, a real estate investment company, signed the purchase agreement and arranged financing for the planned Solís Hotel Two Porsche Drive on December 30, 2015. The property is located directly adjacent to the Porsche Experience Center in Atlanta, Georgia, and will be the first new hotel on the east side of Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport since the new international terminal opened. The hotel will additionally benefit from its positioning as an airport hotel and the resulting guest demand. Capella Hotel Group will handle long-term management of the hotel, which is slated to open in August 2017.
Zurich – The Solís Hotel Two Porsche Drive will be part of Porsche’s corporate campus and event center, which opened in May 2015. The facility houses the headquarters of Porsche Cars North America and its 400 employees along with a two-kilometer test track and racing circuit designed to attract some 30,000 visitors per year. In addition, the campus also features a technical training center, a Classic Restoration Center, exhibition spaces, a Business Center, and restaurants.
"ACRON’s thirty years of real estate experience in the United States, our knowledge of the U.S. market and business culture, and our extensive professional network are the formula for success for the Solís Hotel Two Porsche Drive. We are particularly pleased that we can contribute our expertise to this first-rate hotel investment in this prominent location and are excited to work with the best of the best in the hospitality industry. Together with our partners – Porsche, Capella Hotel Group, HOK Architects, and interior designer Peter Silling – we will design a unique hotel experience integrated into its location and aligned with one of the world’s most famous automotive brands,” says Klaus W. Bender, Chairman of the ACRON Group.
Visitors will have access to 214 rooms, including suites; conference rooms; a restaurant, lounge, and bar; a swimming pool and fitness center; shops and 600 square meters of event space. The management agreement with the Capella Hotel Group, which will operate the five-star hotel under the Solís brand, runs for 25 years with three options to extend the contract for another five years each.
The total investment in the turnkey hotel, including development costs, amounts to estimated USD 52 million. According to an expert opinion, the forecast market value at the time of completion in 2017 already exceeds the development costs by 43%. The investment was structured via a Swiss stock corporation (Aktiengesellschaft). The forecast annual IRR of the investment amounts to over 20%.
ACRON has many years of experience in hotel investments. The company managed the Radisson Blu Zurich Airport Hotel project, which opened in 2008 and is the only hotel at Zurich Airport with direct terminal access. In 2012, it acquired the Radisson Blu Hotel in St. Gallen, which ACRON has itself operated since early 2015. ACRON acquired the property that houses the Motel One Wien Westbahnhof in the same year. ACRON sold the four-star Steigenberger Hotel in Gstaad-Saanen that it had acquired in 2005 successfully for investors in December 2015.
About ACRON
ACRON is a management company specializing in real estate investments founded in Düssseldorf, Germany, in 1981. Every real estate investment designed by ACRON is based on a single-asset structure for investments in Switzerland, Austria, Germany, or the United States. Hotel properties are a focal point, making up 40% of the ACRON Group’s current investments. The company’s transaction volume as of December 31, 2015 amounted to CHF 1,064 million. ACRON’s clients are private individuals and families from around the world. The ACRON Group is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, with subsidiaries in Luxembourg (Luxembourg), Düsseldorf (Germany), Dallas (USA), and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).
Contact:
Klaus Bender
ACRON AG
klaus.bender@acron.ch
Phone: +41 – 44 – 204 34 00
André N. Lagler
ACRON AG
andre.lagler@acron.ch
Phone: +41 – 44 – 204 34 94
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