HFF managing director Mike White in the company's Irvine office,who arranged the financing for Ensemble through Merrill LynchMortgage Capital, says that the property's renovation andrepositioning program is scheduled to be completed in December.White notes that the repositioning will entail changing the hotel'sname, completely renovating public areas and guest rooms, addingfour guest rooms and adding 3,215 sf of meeting space. The borrowerhas hired Joie De Vivre, a boutique hotel operator based in SanFrancisco, as the new hotel management company.

The hotel property already features amenities includingindoor/outdoor meeting space, banquet and catering facilities, afull-service restaurant, a fitness room, lighted tennis courts andan outdoor swimming pool plus a three-acre water parcel subleasedto a marina operator that houses up to 36 boats. "As the closesthotel to the Carnival Cruise Line Terminal the hotel isstrategically located to benefit from the estimated 320,000 annualpassengers that pass through the terminal each year," White adds.He says that the hotel "had huge unrealized potential due to aunique waterfront orientation facing the Long Beach cityscape."

Ensemble, founded in 1989, is involved in investment, managementand development of commercial real estate, with a portfolio ofoffice buildings, medical office buildings and hotels. The companyoperates out of offices in Long Beach, Phoenix, Las Vegas andReno.