Hillwood, Kim King JV Starts Work on $86M Hotel

ATLANTA-Dallas-based Hillwood and locally based Kim King Associates have begun construction on the $86-million, 304-room Hotel Palomar-Atlanta at 866 West Peachtree. The 21-story, 390,000-sf hotel will include a restaurant and 10,000 sf of meeting space. It is expected to be completed by May 2009. The hotel will be managed by San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels & Restaurant Group.

Kim King Associates president Beau King tells GlobeSt.com that boutique nature of the hotel is unique for Atlanta. “Atlanta doesn’t have anything like this,” he says.

King adds that the hotel is located in the center of Midtown near the entrance to Georgia Tech and will attract both business and leisure travelers. “Midtown has seen a tremendous amount of activity recently, but hasn’t seen any hotel activity,” he says.

The development partnership includes Ross-Patterson, a locally based hospitality consulting firm controlled by Butch Ross, of Barry Hotel Partners, and Chip Morgan Patterson, owner of Ameripark. Ross-Patterson helped to secure Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants as the operating partner as well as structure the transaction.

“With all the retail, residential and office development in the area, the timing was right to introduce this product,” Ross says. “This is a unique development opportunity for Atlanta. The boutique hotel industry is prevalent in New York, California and Boston, but not in Atlanta.”