Interstate Hotels & Resorts of Pittsburgh gets the job to reposition the hotel property under the banner of "The Creeks at Beechwood Hotel & Conference Center." The new owner, CFC, forgave $365 million in debt for CoServ, a Denton County cooperative utility, in exchange for the hotel and all other real estate assets of CoServ Realty Holdings LP. For previous story, click here

CoServ's realty arm acquired the hotel and Greg Norman-designed, 210-acre golf course in a December 2001 foreclosure, action coming within two months of the hotel's grand opening. Since then, CoServ too has gone the foreclosure route, filing a Chapter 11 earlier this year. CoServ Realty essentially is being dissolved as part of the restructuring.

After it foreclosed, CoServ attempted to renegotiate the hotel and golf course management pacts with the original operators, Starwood Hotels & Hospitality and Troon Golf. The hotel's asset management contract subsequently was turned over to Quorum Hotel Advisors of Dallas.

With Interstate at the helm, the plan is to use proprietary management and marketing programs to bolster the business. The strategy will rely heavily on the hotel's positioning along Interstate 35 W and its next-door neighbors, the Texas Motor Speedway and AllianceTexas, to help gain a market share in the North Texas conference trade. The facility also is being hyped for its 20-minute drive to the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. As for its amenities, it's outfitted with 23,000-sf of meeting and event space, indoor and out, and a 9,000-sf ballroom as well as the rest of the bells and whistles that go along with a conference center property.

"Conference centers have a unique operating profile," John Emery, Interstate president and COO, said in yesterday's press release, "and we have a proven track record in this area." Interstate manages three other hotels and conference centers in the US.