Hunt-Woodbine Secures $110M Refinance of Reunion Holdings

Neither borrower nor lender, Archon Financial of Dallas, will discuss the refinance, which could simply be a repackaging of the financing or could include some extra capital to help with planning costs for a headquarters hotel. The transaction has closed about three weeks after city officials agreed to kick off negotiations with the asset's general partner, Woodbine Development Corp., about a headquarters hotel in the pursuit to regain a competitive edge on the convention circuit. Negotiations are slated to run through April 16 at no cost to the city.

Hunt-Woodbine Realty Corp., the 50-acre complex's managing general partner, secured a non-recourse first mortgage lien. Paul Jankovsky, senior vice president and regional manager for Archon Financial, originated the loan for the 30-story hotel at 300 Reunion Blvd., which cost $71 million when it opened in 1978. The JV owners put $84.3 million into an expansion, renovation and upgrades between 2000 and 2003.

"The property is a good hotel," Greg Crown, vice president in Dallas for the New York City-based PKF Consulting, tells GlobeSt.com. "It's performed well above the average for the Downtown." The Hyatt Regency's rooms start at $149 per night. The landmark hotel, with a revolving restaurant atop the adjacent tower, has 180,000 sf of function space, six restaurants and a 500-space parking garage.

In a press release about the refinance, Jankovsky says the Hyatt Regency Dallas "plays an important role in the dynamics of both Downtown and convention center commerce." Woodbine, teaming with Marriott International Inc. of Washington, DC, is pushing a preliminary 1,000-room hotel proposal with a direct connection to the tower and Hyatt Regency.

Crown believes Dallas officials think a privately funded headquarters hotel will come cost-free to the city. The public cost, he says, will be "at least $100 million." The project's full cost is likely to be $250 million. Houston's 1,200-room headquarters hotel cost almost that much and Denver's 1,100-room facility is topping $300 million, according to Crown.

As Woodbine negotiates the new Dallas deal, it's well under way on a $135-million development, Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa, in Bastrop County near Austin. The 491-room resort is set to open in 2006.