After restoring the Historic Davenport Hotel in downtown Spokane and building a luxury hotel brand, developers and hoteliers Walt and Karen Worthy announced the sale of their five properties on Tuesday.
Colorado-based KSL Capital Partners purchased the 1914 landmark and the other four Worthys properties, comprising more than 1,700 guest rooms in the center of downtown. The parties did not disclose the amount of the sale, which is expected to close over the next 30 days.
A representative of the new operating group and the managing director of the hotel brand said on Tuesday that the sale would not affect the service experience in the five properties, including the historic hotel, the Davenport Tower, the Davenport Lusso, the Davenport Grand and the. belong centenary.
“The name of the hotel will not change,” said Pete Sams, chief operations officer of Davidson Hospitality Group, which will operate the hotels on behalf of KSL Capital. “We are in awe of the service and experience these hotels provide.”
Davidson will keep all Davenport hotel staff and management team in place, including Lynnelle Caudill, who has been the brand’s managing director since 2002 when the Worthys reopened the Historic Davenport.
“Louis Davenport started this whole thing,” said Caudill. “Then we had Walt and Karen’s chapter. And now it’s time for a new chapter. “
Walt Worthy, who did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday, bought the historic hotel at 10 S. Post St. in 2000 for $ 6.5 million, thereby starting an expansion to four other properties.
“It is time to move the property into new hands,” Worthy said in a statement posted Tuesday. “KSL has the in-depth knowledge and skills to provide exceptional service, having owned and operated some of the most prestigious hotels in the world, and we are delighted that they continue to preserve the history and legacy of Davenport Hotels here will be in Spokane. “
For years it had been feared that the Historic Davenport, a landmark designed by Kirtland Cutter, would be demolished because of the asbestos in the hotel.
“It’s just a masterpiece that sits there waiting to be framed,” Worthy told The Spokesman Review after purchasing the pad. “It’s overwhelming – it’s so damn big. But once we get started, I think all the pieces will come together. ”
The Worthys reopened the Davenport two years later after spending $ 35 million on the renovation. Next, they turned to the Davenport Tower, a 21-story hotel that opened in 2007. The purchase of the Lusso, a boutique hotel on W. Sprague Ave. 808, followed in 2009, and the Davenport Grand Hotel opened its doors in 2015, but not without some controversy over how much the City of Spokane owed for the redevelopment of the grounds.
The Davenport portfolio was rounded off with the purchase of the Red Lion Hotel at the Park in 2018 for $ 35 million, which is now known as Centennial.
Davidson and KSL were drawn to Spokane’s promise of future growth, Sams said. He cited the renovation of Riverfront Park and the construction of the nearby Podium sports complex and a new multi-purpose stadium in the city center as evidence that Spokane is positive about the hospitality potential.
“We believe this is a market on a wave,” said Sams. “We’ll catch it at the front end of a wave.”
The Davenport hotels will be the first to be operated by Davidson, Washington state, but KSL has regional holdings that include the Hayden Lake Marina, Crystal Mountain Resort and the CitizenM Hotel in Seattle’s South Lake Union, among other international investments belong.
The travel and leisure investment company has continued to raise and spend money during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Bloomberg. In October, reported the journal KSL Capital had spent more than $ 3 billion between April 2020 and September 30, and was actively seeking investors for additional ventures.
The Historic Davenport won’t be the first historic hotel to add to the KSL portfolio. The company also owned The Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia, and The Grand Hotel on Mackinaw Island, Michigan, from 2006-2013. Built in 1887, the hotel was sold to KSL in 2019 and is currently operated by Davidson.
Known for its festive lobby during the Christmas season, the hotel is listed on the National Historic Register. Caudill said the change of ownership would not change that tradition.
“They used to call the Davenport lobby the Spokane community living room,” she said. “And I think that hasn’t changed.”
The purchase of KSL comes just as the Davenport brand has been ramping up its hiring in recent weeks in anticipation of a return from the lean days of the COVID-19 pandemic. All properties except the Grand Hotel were closed for several months in early 2020, and the company reduced its workforce from more than 1,200 to just over 300 in early 2021.
“Not all of them came back and we just had to start recruiting,” said Caudill, adding that the brand is back to employing more than 700 people. Working with Davidson and KSL will allow them to recruit workers from other parts of the country and bring some of the ideas into the Davenport brand in other homes.
Caudill said 2022 has the potential to be a better year than 2019 as several citywide events are planned and new facilities open. Sams said there are signs that business and convention travel are back on track after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic, all reassuring signs for an industry that has been badly hit with people staying home to stay safe .
“We could have a remarkable year 2022,” said Caudill.
