Savills to buy Eastdil Secured for $1.2B
Savills to buy Eastdil Secured for $1.2B
The deal will dramatically expand Savills’ footprint in advisory services, capital markets and other services.
https://www.hotelinvestmenttoday.com/Deals/Mergers-and-Acquistions/Savills-to-buy-Eastdil-Secured-for-1-2-billion?
INTERNATIONAL REPORT — Global brokerage firm Savills will acquire private real estate investment bank Eastdil Secured for £900 million ($1.2 billion) in a deal first reported by Green Street News.
The acquisition is expected to be announced with Savills’ quarterly earnings report on Thursday.
Eastdil owners Guggenheim Investments and Temasek Holdings are selling to the brokerage, which would dramatically expand Savills’ footprint in advisory services, capital markets and other services.
London-based Savills has been expanding recently in the U.S. across different asset classes. In November, the firm launched its U.S. Retail Advisory Services platform, led by Todd Siegel. Savills’ purchase also follows recent leadership changes at the firm, with Simon Shaw succeeding Mark Ridley as CEO at the beginning of the year.
This is the second ownership change for Eastdil in less than a decade. In 2019, the firm was taken private after Wells Fargo sold its majority stake to Temasek Holdings and institutional clients advised by Guggenheim Investments. That deal was valued at $400 million.
Fertitta could buy Caesars for $7B: WSJ
According to the Wall Street Journal, billionaire Tilman Fertitta is in exclusive talks with Caesars Entertainment after topping a competing offer.
https://www.hotelinvestmenttoday.com/Deals/Mergers-and-Acquistions/Fertitta-could-buy-Caesars-for-7B-WSJ?
NATIONAL REPORT — Billionaire Tilman Fertitta has been in talks to buy Caesars Entertainment for roughly $7 billion, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
According to the report, Fertitta has topped a competing offer from investor Carl Icahn’s firm. His company, Houston-based Fertitta Entertainment, has been discussing paying around $34 a share for the gambling empire. Caesars shares closed Tuesday at $26.01, giving the company a market value of over $5 billion.
An announcement between the two sides isn’t imminent, according to the report, and it’s possible the talks won’t result in any deal.
Caesars has also received an all-cash offer of around $33 a share from Sunny Isles Beach, Florida-based Icahn Enterprises, the publicly traded company that houses the investment of Icahn, a Caesars shareholder. Icahn Enterprises’ offer hasn’t officially been rejected by Caesars, according to the story.
Caesars Entertainment is one of the Las Vegas Strip’s two largest operators, running nine resorts, including Planet Hollywood, Paris, Harrah’s, Horseshoe and The Cromwell alongside Caesars Palace. However, Vici Properties owns the land on which those resorts sit. Vici was founded as an offshoot of Caesars in 2017, when Caesars filed for bankruptcy.
The deal would significantly expand Fertitta Entertainment's portfolio, which includes the Golden Nugget casino chain, Landry's and the NBA’s Houston Rockets. Fertitta increased his stake in Las Vegas-based Wynn Resorts to 9.9% in November 2024, which made him the company's largest shareholder. A deal with Caesars would add more than 50 resorts to Fertitta Entertainment's portfolio.
Fertitta has previously pursued deals to acquire Caesars. In 2018, he proposed merging the Golden Nugget chain with the company, which Caesars rejected.
Hoteliers' optimism weakens as US World Cup demand softer than expected
Geopolitical conflict, high ticket prices weigh on hotel bookings
Hotel revenue managers say Dallas is one of the U.S. markets with the best forward-looking demand for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. (Getty Images)
https://www.costar.com/article/1608606242/hoteliers-optimism-weakens-as-us-world-cup-demand-softer-than-expected
Hoteliers have been circling the 2026 FIFA World Cup on their calendars for years now. Now that kickoff is less than 100 days away, the attitude surrounding it is souring.
Nearly eight years ago, North America was chosen as the host of the quadrennial soccer tournament, with this iteration set to feature a record amount of teams and matches.
If the time elapsed between the selection of the continent as host and the start of the event — June 13, 2018, to June 11, 2026 — were a soccer match, it'd currently be in the 87th minute out of 90. The score of the match would be tied; the outcome is up in the air.
Sometimes playing for a draw is wiser than going all-out for a win.
There's little doubt among hoteliers and analysts alike that the World Cup will bring positive hotel demand to each of the 16 host markets. The latest forecast from CoStar and Tourism Economics projects a 1.7% increase in U.S. revenue per available room for the months of June and July, driven by a 12.7% increase in RevPAR at U.S. host markets for those months.
But questions and concerns about hotel demand not being as positive as expected continue to pile up as the tournament nears, dampening the sentiment surrounding the blockbuster event.
Uncertainty afoot
One of the biggest questions regarding hotel demand with the World Cup is how many rooms will actually be occupied by the FIFA room block, said Jan Freitag, national director of hospitality market analytics at CoStar.
A couple of years ago, the governing body of soccer locked down contracts at hotels in the host markets to reserve rooms for ticket-purchasing fans. The holds were set to last until 120 days prior to the tournament starting but were whittled down to 90 days in some cases.
As the tournament approaches, it appears likely that FIFA won't use nearly as many rooms as anticipated, which will leave hoteliers scrambling to fill the rooms.
Harry Carr, senior vice president of commercial optimization at Pivot Hotels & Resorts — the lifestyle hotel operating vehicle of Davidson Hospitality Group — said his company's hotel portfolio has started receiving its FIFA room-block holds back. At some of its hotels, those World Cup room blocks didn't have a single reservation made.
"I think it's just they overcalculated. I don't know if it's just the demand itself or the current conditions that are pushing it away, but we are much less bullish about World Cup than we were three months ago," Carr said.
Lior Sekler, chief commercial officer at HRI Lodging, said the actualized demand from these reserved room blocks has been "very lackluster." At HRI's Bay Area hotels, only 15% of the reserved rooms were picked up.
While it's not ideal, this may not actualize into a major problem, Freitag said, since group booking windows have been shortened over the past couple of years. However, it is another piece of the hotel demand puzzle missing with not a lot of time left.
Kristen Weaver, vice president of revenue and e-commerce at GF Hotels & Resorts, said certain World Cup host markets are still locked up tight. There are hotel markets where rates are high and have advanced-purchase restrictions in place, and there are markets where there are no rooms available currently because of room blocks.
"The uncertainty is definitely still there, which is kind of unsettling at this point in the game," she said.
Demand remains in the three to five days surrounding a match, but it's not going to be a monthlong event like some thought it could be, Carr said. Rates are starting to drop in urban markets; suburban markets have actually performed better in regard to hotel bookings due to the lower price points.
It's getting close to the point where it might be time to consider dropping rates — if it hasn't already started.
"If you're not 100% set up for an entire market sellout because there's so much supply and not enough demand, it might be almost time to start loosening the reins a little bit and seeing what we can book," Weaver said.
Sekler said HRI has started to shift its strategy a bit, but the company won't have a firm indication of how demand will play out until mid-May.
"We're opening transient, we are removing length-of-stay restrictions, we're offering inventory to groups outside of FIFA," he said. "We're kind of like business as usual."
Performance on the books varies from market to market. Dallas, for example, has seen higher hotel demand and more group business for longer stays, both Weaver and Sekler said.
International inbound concerns
Hotel executives were already expressing their worries that the U.S. wasn't doing enough to be a welcoming country for international visitors ahead of major events such as the World Cup in January at the Americas Lodging Investment Summit. Since then, it's taken a turn for the worse.
The Iran war — set off by preemptive strikes on the country by the U.S. and Israel in late February — is widely unpopular among Americans. The New York Times reports that 41% of Americans expressed public support for U.S. military intervention in Iran, the lowest percentage of support among international conflicts dating back to World War II.
And that's just the sentiment among Americans. Growing geopolitical tensions could cast a shadow over the global event.
"I would say that our concern is growing," Weaver said.
Four of the countries in the tournament — Iran, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Haiti — are on U.S. President Donald Trump's travel ban list, meaning fans from those countries won't be able to receive a visa to travel to America.
On Jan. 21, the Department of State paused immigrant visa issuances to applicants from 75 countries, including Brazil, Colombia and Egypt. This shouldn't affect non-immigrant tourists from being granted a visa, but it doesn't guarantee approval.
Those who have purchased a World Cup ticket through FIFA will have the chance to interview for a B1/B2 visitor visa before the tournament begins through the FIFA Priority Appointment Scheduling System.
The concerns about international travel go beyond hotel demand. Weaver said there will likely be increased security at hotels in markets where there could be protests, such as Los Angeles, which is set to host Iran's first two group stage matches.
"Our biggest concern is making sure that all of our staff and all of our guests are safe," she said.
Weaver said GF Hotels & Resorts is monitoring international travel trends, but it isn't time to panic just yet. If there isn't a pickup in transient demand on the books from international travelers by the 45-day mark, that would be a cause of concern.
International inbound trends aren't all negative. Carr said he's still seeing interest from these travelers, and the major games and biggest markets will still net a good amount of fans. He added Pivot adjusted its cancellation policy from non-refundable to 30-day cancellation policies to account for some of the worries.
"A lot of that has to do with the uncertainty in the world right now and giving people an opportunity if something negative happens, they're not 100% locked into the purchase," he said.
Overall impact
All things considered, the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be a boon to hotel demand for the U.S., especially in the host markets. There will be positives to take away and lessons learned ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
But it's hard not to imagine what the impact could have been.
"The overall numbers are likely going to be a little bit disappointing if the trends hold that we're talking about today," Freitag said.
All hope isn't lost just yet, though.
Weaver said she's choosing to take an optimistic approach to the event.
"We didn't budget for the World Cup like we would typically budget for a major event like a Super Bowl because there are so many unknowns," she said. "We are looking forward to having some sort of a positive impact for most of our properties ... how much depends on the traveler sentiment for the teams that are at each location and then also what ends up transpiring overseas by the time we get to June."
While locking down group blocks for a long length of stay was the initial hope and strategy, Carr said there could be a major pickup in the transient leisure guest closer to the matches.
There's also a whole group stage to be played that could affect the desirability of the tournament's knockout stage matches based on the matchups.
"Maybe what's going to happen is that we're going to see this tale of two World Cups, that what happens in June is underwhelming and what happens in July is on par or better," Freitag said.
Carr agreed, holding onto the hope that there's still World Cup hotel demand out there.
"There might be some great buzz behind [the knockout stage]," Carr said. "I'm not as optimistic as I was three months ago, but I'm not ready to call it a bust."
Historic Vanderbilt Berkshires Estate to become luxury wellness resort
Veteran real estate developer Linda Law aims to recapture property’s historic legacy
The historic Elm Court in Lennox, Massachusetts is converting to a luxury wellness resort. (Law & Associates)
https://www.costar.com/article/161321375/historic-vanderbilt-berkshires-estate-to-become-luxury-wellness-resort?
Linda Law grew up on the west coast, but she has had what she calls “a lifelong love affair” with the Berkshires, a region in western Massachusetts known for its appealing mix of mountain scenery, historic estates, cultural institutions and small towns.
As a real estate developer, she became active in the area when she took over the Blantyre Estate in Lenox, Massachusetts in 2017, and operated it as a 5-star luxury-resort until she sold it in 2023.
And now Law, through her company Law & Associates, is taking on what is her most interesting project to date: remaking the former Elm Court — which commenced construction in 1886 — into a luxury resort with an emphasis on health and longevity. The property will be called, appropriately, Vanderbilt Berkshires Estate.
Elm Court was designed in 1885 by the architectural firm Peabody and Sterns as a summer residence for Emily Vanderbilt, granddaughter of railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt. and her husband, William Sloane. The property, which straddles the Stockbridge and Lenox town lines, has been shuttered since 2012. Law is only the third owner of the asset.
In its heyday, the estate housed 34 greenhouses, including one large enough to accommodate full-grown palm trees. The greenhouses supplied flowers and fruits for the estate and the Vanderbilt’s New York City residences and, at one time, comprised the largest acreage of private greenhouses in the U.S. During its prime, according to Law, Elm Court was a center of power, hosting the 1919 “Elm Court Talks,” which helped shape the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations.
The asset was most recently owned by Amstar and Travaasa Experiential Resorts, which invested in the planning for a wellness-focused resort before abandoning its hospitality division and selling the estate. The property went up for sale in 2020 with an asking price of $12.5 million. Law acquired it in late 2022 for $8 million in cash.
The plan is to transform the 55,000-square-foot mansion, the largest shingled residence in the U.S., and its 89 acres of grounds into a four-season destination with 26 guest suites in the manor house and 48 lodges in 12 newly constructed buildings that slope down a hill to a lake. These buildings will not be visible from the manor house. The original landscaping, designed by legendary landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, will be restored. The project will also involve a number of individual custom lots.
The development “will preserve the Gilded Age property’s architectural character while introducing more wellness-focused hospitality,” Law said
Groundbreaking is scheduled for the third quarter of this year with a full opening for the resort set for late 2028. It will cost $90 million, funded by Law and a group of investors.
A tremendous amount of research has been done by her team on the architecture and design of the Gilded Age and the history of the Vanderbilt family, Law said. She feels “a tremendous responsibility,” she said, to pay homage to the estate’s legendary past. As a symbol of its era, the destination will ultimately not only preserve architectural and artistic excellence but also serve as “a living classroom,” fostering a deeper appreciation for heritage, craftsmanship and innovation.
Law’s business partner is Richard Peiser, PhD., who, she said, is the only chaired professor of real estate development at Harvard University. It is also important to Law that John Cecil, a descendant of the Vanderbilt family, is participating in the project as an adviser and investor.
“We’re very proud that John has been involved in landscaping the property, especially because of its Olmsted heritage,” Law said.
Structures on the grounds will be repurposed depending on the condition they’re in, she said. The stables will be utilized for events and conferences. The main greenhouse, once the largest in the country, will become a spa, covering about 25,000 square feet and incorporating whatever can be saved of the original structure.
No decisions have been made yet on a management company or a brand flag, Law said, noting she anticipates those discussions will happen later.
The potential market will be broad and diverse, with guests expected to arrive from nearby urban areas, as well as regional, domestic and international sources, she said. That demographic mix has been stable in the Berkshires for decades.
There is skiing within 20 minutes, but the resort is being designed to be a four-seasons destination. When her Blantyre Estate opened, it was considered a one-season property focused on summer demand but was expanded to near year-round appeal, she said.
There is no other five-star hotel in the Berkshires, she said.
Law said the bottom line is this is a complicated undertaking because the original structures were built before the turn of the 20th century.
“It has taken us a long time to understand this property,” she said. “And there has been a long process of getting approvals.”
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