Ares Sells Stake in Colorado Resort in Development

The 1,500-room hotel and convention center located less than 10 minutes from the Denver International Airport and 25 minutes from downtown Denver is expected to begin operations in the fourth quarter of this year.

A rendering of the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center in Aurora, CO.

AURORA, CO—Ares Management, LP reports it has sold its stake in the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center under construction here for approximately $270 million.

As part of the transaction, joint venture project partners Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. of Nashville and Houston-based RIDA Development Corp. will buy out the Ares’ investment. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2018.

The 1,500-room hotel and convention center located less than 10 minutes from the Denver International Airport and 25 minutes from downtown Denver is expected to begin operations in the fourth quarter of this year.

“We are proud to have been an early investor in this transformative project, and to have had the opportunity to continue our longstanding partnership with RIDA and to build a relationship with Ryman,” says Andrew Holm, partner in the Ares Real Estate Group. “Our Gaylord Rockies investment continues Ares’ longstanding track record of developing best-in-class convention and resort properties across major markets in the United States and our long-term strategy of being a meaningful investor in developments that meet the needs of local communities.”

Last week, Los Angeles-based Ares Management announced that funds managed by Ares EIF, its power and infrastructure strategy, closed on the acquisition of substantially all of the assets and business interests of Paradigm Energy Partners from an affiliate of Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners. The Paradigm assets will be combined with Ares EIF’s adjacent Van Hook Gathering System, which it acquired in 2015, to form a premier regional midstream platform serving the core of the Williston Basin in North Dakota, with additional reach into the prolific Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas. The combined entity, which will continue to be known as Paradigm, will continue to be operated by Paradigm’s existing management team and employee base.

The acquisition consists of two oil and natural gas gathering systems in North Dakota and a third in South Texas, along with joint venture interests in the Sacagawea Pipeline Co. and various logistics assets in North Dakota. By year end 2018, the combined company is expected to transport nearly 50,000 barrels of oil and 23 million cubic feet of gas per day from 11 contracted customers in North Dakota and Texas.

Ares Management is a publicly traded global alternative asset manager with approximately $121.4 billion of assets under management as of June 30, 2018 and 18 offices in the United States, Europe, Asia and Australia.