321-room Minnetonka hotel sold to Denver firm

Minneapolis Marriott Southwest
Sage Hospitality has acquired the 321-room Marriott Minneapolis Southwest in Minnetonka for an undisclosed sum.

It is the Denver-based hotel company's third hotel in Minnesota and the second in the Twin Cities.

Sage plans to spend more than $10 million on staffing and a renovation of all public spaces and guest rooms, according to a press release.

The majority of the money will be spent on guest rooms and meeting spaces, said Sage spokeswoman Kate Davis.

Constructed in 1988, the hotel includes a restaurant called Stacy's Grille and 14,000-square-feet of meeting room space. It's part of the Opus 2 Business Park near Highway 169 and Bren Road.

The seller is an entity called Chief Minneapolis Hotel, an entity of Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors based in Hartford, Conn. which bought the hotel and 10.3-acre property for $44.25 million in 2007, according to Hennepin County property records.

The county's estimated 2014 market value for the property is $18 million.

"We are excited to continue growing in the Minnesota market," said Michael Everett, chief investment officer for Sage. The Marriott Minneapolis Southwest meets Sage's "value-add growth strategy," he said, and the company looks forward to bringing its management and ownership expertise to the property.

Sage owns the Fairfield Inn hotel in in Duluth and paid $30 million in 2012 to acquire the DoubleTree Suites by Hilton in downtown Minneapolis. It manages the DoubleTree property for a separate ownership group, Wheelock Street Capital, Davis said.

Reported by:  Minneapolis | St. Paul Business Journal