Wheelock Street Capital Acquires the Ben – West Palm Beach
Wheelock Street Capital announced it has acquired The Ben - West Palm Beach, a 208-room Marriott soft-branded, luxury hotel located at 251 N Narcissus Avenue in West Palm Beach, FL.
Purpose-built in 2020 as Marriott Autograph Collection's first hotel in Palm Beach County, the 208-room property serves as the centerpiece of Flagler Banyan Square, a 435,000 square foot mixed-use lifestyle project. Conveniently located steps away from downtown West Palm Beach, the development features residential, dining, retail, and other amenities, while The Ben features a full-service restaurant, 7800 square feet of event space, rooftop ballroom, rooftop pool, and amenity deck complete with unparalleled views of the City Marina, Intracoastal Waterway, and Palm Beach Island.
Drawing media attention as "Wall Street South," West Palm Beach is in the midst of a development and investment renaissance with a robust housing market and strong new-to-market office activity from the Northeast and elsewhere. A number of high-quality new tenants, including Goldman Sachs, Point72 Asset Management, Benefit Street Partners, Susquehanna, Comvest Partners, Norwest Equity Partners, Lewis Longman Walker, and Sanders Capital, have made announcements regarding establishing a meaningful presence in the market. The continued growth of the West Palm Beach office demand supports a bullish outlook on the market, also evidenced by Wheelock's recent 153,000 SF office development investment located at 301 Clematis Street & 300 Banyan Boulevard, adjacent to The Ben.
Concord Hospitality, one of the top hospitality developers and managers in the U.S., was instrumental in the property's concept design, development, and launch. Concord, which operates a portfolio of over 130 hotels, including 23 hotels in Florida, will continue to retain management responsibilities under Wheelock's ownership.
"The acquisition marks Wheelock's first hotel purchase and second fund investment in the West Palm Beach market. The property's institutional quality, A+ location along the coveted Intracoastal, and irreplaceable, lifestyle waterfront nature in a growing South Florida market make this investment another ideal match with our current acquisition criteria. Located at the crossroads of the work-live-play epicenter of West Palm Beach, the property is set to benefit from continued leisure and rapidly accelerating corporate group demand," stated Tim Hodes, Principal and Head of Hotel Acquisitions for Wheelock Street Capital. "We look forward to our first hospitality investment engaging Concord's management and working to solidify the property's position as West Palm Beach's preeminent luxury hotel offering."
Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR) is a global leading lodging company based in Bethesda,Maryland, USA, with more than 4,200 properties in 80 countries and territories. Marriott International reported revenues of nearly $14 billion in fiscal year 2014. The company operates and franchises hotels and licenses vacation ownership resorts under 19 brands, including: The Ritz-Carlton®, BVlgari®, EDITION®, JW Marriott®, Autograph Collection® Hotels, Renaissance® Hotels, Marriott Hotels®, Delta Hotels and Resorts®, Marriott Executive Apartments®, Marriott Vacation Club®, Gaylord Hotels®, AC Hotels by Marriott®, Courtyard®, Residence Inn®, SpringHill Suites®, Fairfield Inn & Suites®, TownePlace Suites®, Protea Hotels® and MoxyHotels®. Marriott has been consistently recognized as a top employer and for its superior business ethics. The company also manages the award-winning guest loyalty program, Marriott Rewards® and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards® program, which together surpass 50 million members. For more information or reservations, please visit our website at 
