Shamin Hotels, the region’s largest privately held hotel operator, has wrapped up the summer with two significant acquisitions on opposite sides of Richmond.
The company recently purchased the Residence Inn at 3940 Westerre Parkway near Short Pump, along with the Timmons Group-anchored office building at 1001 Boulders Parkway in Chesterfield. The combined value of the deals is nearly $12 million.
The larger of the two transactions was the Residence Inn, which sold for $9.75 million. The Boulders office building was acquired for $2.1 million.
The Residence Inn Richmond Northwest/Short Pump, located just east of Innsbrook, was built in the late 1990s and features 104 rooms. Shamin Hotels CEO Neil Amin revealed plans for a complete renovation of the four-story hotel.
“We have a strong presence in that area, so it was a natural fit for our portfolio,” Amin said. With this acquisition, Shamin’s portfolio now exceeds 10,000 rooms. The company owns over 75 hotels along the East Coast, with most of its properties in the Richmond area.
The Residence Inn deal closed on September 6, and Henrico County recently assessed the property at $7.9 million.
Shamin’s acquisition of the 81,000-square-foot Boulders office building closed a week earlier, on August 30. The building is set to lose its primary tenant, engineering firm Timmons Group, next year when the company relocates its headquarters to Springline at District 60, a mixed-use development a few miles south. Shamin is also planning two hotels at that development.
While Shamin is currently headquartered in the Richmond Times-Dispatch building downtown, which it owns, the company has been exploring options for a new headquarters. However, Amin clarified that the Boulders office building won’t serve as the company’s new HQ, though it still made sense as an investment.
“We’re excited about the county’s plans for that area, and we see this as a great investment,” Amin said. “As part of our headquarters search, this property came up. While it doesn’t fit our needs for a headquarters, it still made a lot of sense.”
Amin added that Shamin plans to finish some existing shell space in the Boulders building and make cosmetic upgrades after Timmons vacates next year. The deal also included a 3.75-acre adjacent plot at 7420 Beaufont Spring Drive, which Shamin may develop in the future.
The two parcels were last assessed at a combined value of $7.6 million. The seller was Raleigh-based Dominion Realty Partners.
In addition to these acquisitions, Shamin is working on a high-profile project near Scott’s Addition in Richmond. The company is planning to build a 12-story, 299-room hotel on the site of a former Hardee’s at the intersection of West Broad Street and Arthur Ashe Boulevard. Amin said they hope to break ground on that project next year.
Source: richmondbizsense.com